' 


4 


*• 


Nebuchadnezzar’s  Image, 


m 

{  SEP  14  1951 

\A 


THE 

SCRIPTURE  HISTORY 


OF 


IDOLATRY, 

^  SHOWING 

THE  CONNEXION  BETWEEN  THE  TRADITIONS 

OF 

PAGAN  MYTHOLOGY 

■  ' .  ^ 

AND 

THE  BIBLE. 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH  NUMEROUS  ENGRAVINGS. 


BY  REV.  J.  F.  BERG, 

PASTOR  OF  THE  FIRST  GERMAN  REFORMED  CHURCH 
OF  PHILADELPHIA. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  &  CO., 

SOUTH-WEST  CORNER  OF  FOURTH  AND  RACE  STREETS. 


1  8  3  8. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year 
1838,  by 

J.  F.  BERG, 

in  the  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United 
States  in  and  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


Lydia  R.  Bailey,  Printer. 


PREFACE. 


An  old  historical  miscellany  in  the  German 
language,  printed  A.  D.  1728,  first  suggested 
to  the  writer  of  the  following  pages  the  idea 
of  a  Scripture  History  of  Idolatry.  The 
work  alluded  to,  amongst  a  variety  of  mat¬ 
ter,  highly  useful  to  the  Biblical  student,  con¬ 
tains  a  fewr  pages  devoted  to  the  subject  of 
which  this  volume  treats.  Although  the  Ger¬ 
man  treatise  is  very  short,  being  merely  a 
statement  of  facts,  it  embodies  no  small 
amount  of  lore,  which  must  have  been  col¬ 
lected  at  the  expense  of  great  research  on  the 
part  of  the  compiler,  if  the  number  of  old  and 


IV 


PREFACE. 


rare  books,  quoted  in  the  margin,  as  authori¬ 
ties,  be  regarded  as  a  criterion.  This  little 
volume  contains  all  that  was  thought  valua¬ 
ble  in  the  German  work,  which  has  been 
used  as  the  basis  upon  which  the  author  has 
arranged  his  own  materials. 

With  this  acknowledgment  due  to  himself 
and  to  the  memory  of  Father  “  Johann  Ja¬ 
cob  Schmidt,  Prediger  zu  Peest  und  Palow 
in  Pommern,”  the  author  submits  his  book  to 
the  public,  with  the  humble  hope  and  prayer 
that  it  may,  in  some  small  degree,  subserve 
his  Master’s  glory.  The  topics  discussed  are 
believed  to  be  of  special  interest  to  the 
habitual  reader  of  the  Word  of  God,  and 
although  the  subject  may  be  thought  un¬ 
usual,  it  is  hoped  that  it  will  prove  neither 
uninteresting  nor  uninstructive.  Great  sim¬ 
plicity  of  style  was  thought  desirable,  par¬ 
ticularly  when  Bible  narratives  are  intro- 


PREFACE. 


V 


duced ;  and  these  are  interwoven  with  the 
subject  in  order  to  render  it  more  attractive 
to  juvenile  readers,  and  lead  them  to  search 
the  Scriptures.  No  commendatory  notice 
has  been  solicited  from  any  quarter  previous 
to  the  publication  of  the  volume,  because  it 
is  preferred  that  the  work  should  rest  entirely 
upon  its  own  merits ;  if  it  is  good ,  it  needs  no 
recommendation  to  sustain  it;  and  if  any 
thing  less  than  good ,  it  deserves  none. 

J.  F.  B. 


Philadelphia ,  Oct.  18,  1838. 


SCRIPTURE  HISTORY 


OF 

IDOLATRY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OF  IDOLATRY  IN  GENERAL. 

\ 

Idolatry,  or  the  worship  of  idols,  is  the  act 
of  ascribing  to  persons  and  things,  properties 
which  belong  exclusively  to  God.  It  is  an  abuse 
of  that  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  a  Supreme 
Being,  which  all  men  possess,  and  which  they 
derive,  partly  from  the  internal  testimony  of 
conscience,  and  (Rom.  ii.  14,  15,)  partly  from 
the  external  evidence  so  abundantly  furnished  by 
the  works  of  creation.  (Rom.  i.  20.)  When  the 
primitive  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  in  haughty 
defiance  of  the  God  of  heaven,  broke  his  bands 
and  cut  asunder  the  cords  that  bound  them  to 


8 


OF  IDOLATRY  I?*  GENERAL. 


him ,  he  left  them  to  the  dominion  of  their  own 
folly — withdrew  from  them  the  restraints  of  that 
grace  which  they  had  contemned,  and  as  a  na¬ 
tural  consequence,  “  they  became  vain  in  their 
imaginations,  and  their  foolish  heart  was  darken¬ 
ed — professing  themselves  to  be  wise,  they  be¬ 
came  fools,”  and  the  climax  of  their  brutish  folly 
was,  that  “  they  changed  the  glory  of  the  incor¬ 
ruptible  God  into  an  image  made  like  to  corrupti¬ 
ble  man,  and  to  birds  and  to  four-footed  beasts 
and  creeping  things.”  (Rom.  vii.  21,  23.)  In 
short,  they  became  idolaters. 

Idolatry  has  been  distinguished  as  metaphori¬ 
cal  and  proper.  By  metaphorical  idolatry  is 
meant  that  inordinate  love  of  riches,  honour,  and 
sensual  pleasures,  by  which  the  passions  and  ap¬ 
petites  of  men  are  made  superior  to  the  will  of 
God. 

Proper  idolatry  is  giving  the  divine  honour  to 
another.  Let  me  try  to  illustrate  my  meaning. 
Mr.  A.  is  a  wealthy  man,  and  a  member  of  the 
church  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  attends  the  house  of 
God  very  regularly  on  the  Sabbath,  comes  now 
and  then  to  the  evening  prayer-meeting,  and  the 


OF  IDOLATRY  IN  GENERAL. 


9 


weekly  lecture,  and  may  be  seen  at  the  com¬ 
munion  table,  whenever  the  Saviour  invites  his 
friends  to  eat  and  drink  in  remembrance  of  him. 
Mr.  A.  is  amiable  in  his  deportment,  and  his 
character  for  morality  has  never  been  called  in 
question  by  the  world — but,  according  to  the  Bi¬ 
ble,  notwithstanding  his  many  estimable  quali¬ 
ties,  he  is  an  idolater ;  for  he  loves  money  so 
much,  and  the  cause  of  Christ  so  little,  that  he 
will  let  the  poor  heathen  perish  in  their  blindness 
rather  than  contribute  a  small  portion  of  his  sub¬ 
stance  to  relieve  their  wants.  Mr.  A.  loves  mo¬ 
ney  more  than  he  loves  Christ,  and  this  being  the 
case,  stands  charged  in  God’s  Word  with  the  sin 
of  covetousness,  which  the  Holy  Ghost  condemns 
as  idolatry ;  “  Mortify  your  members,  which  are 
upon  the  earth — and  covetousness,  which  is  idola¬ 
try.”  (Col.  iii.  5.)  And,  again — “  No  covetous 
man,  who  is  an  idolater,  hath  any  inheritance  in 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  God.”  (Eph.  v.  5.) 

Or,  to  use  an  illustration  which  will  be  perhaps 
more  intelligible  to  a  child.  Suppose  you  are  pass¬ 
ing  by  a  garden,  in  which  you  see  some  delicious 
fruit — the  trees  hang  their  loaded  branches  down 


10 


OF  IDOLATRY  IN  GENERAL. 


to  the  ground — you  look  around  you — no  one  is 
near  and  you  are  strongly  tempted  to  climb  the 
fence  and  indulge  your  appetite.  You  lay  your 
hand  upon  the  barrier,  but  something  whispers, 
44  Stop  !  you  are  doing  wrong — no  human  eye 
may  see  you,  but  God  is  watching  you  !”  You 
hesitate — appetite  pleads — 44  It  is  only  a  little 
fruit,  and  if  you  take  it,  the  owner  will  sustain  no 
injury,”  and  you  decide  the  controversy  for  the 
present,  against  conscience,  and  in  favour  of  in¬ 
dulgence.  You  climb  the  fence  and  hurry  towards 
the  tree — you  reach  out  your  hand,  and  in  spite 
of  the  loud  outcries  of  your  injured  conscience, 
you  break  off  the  fruit  and  eat.  In  addition  to 
the  violation  of  the  eighth  commandment,  which 
says,  44  Thou  shalt  not  steal,”  you  have  commit¬ 
ted  the  sin  of  idolatry — you  have  broken  the  first 
commandment,  44  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods 
before  me,”  (Philip,  iii.  19.)  by  making  a  god  of 
your  belly. 

Proper  idolatry  is  the  worshipping  any  work 
of  God  or  man,  such  as  the  sun,  or  an  image 
made  of  wood  or  stone.  Such,  for  instance,  was 
the  idolatry  of  the  Canaanites,  who  made  images 


OF  IDOLATRY  IN  GENERAL. 


11 


of  wood,  to  which  they  prayed  and  offered  sacri- 
fices.  How  abominable  every  kind  of  idolatry  is 
in  the  sight  of  Him,  who,  amid  the  thunders  and 
lightnings  of  Sinai,  gave  as  the  first  great  com¬ 
mandment,  “  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  be¬ 
fore  me,”  may  be  seen  by  a  reference  to  some 
passages  in  the  Bible.  David,  speaking  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  says,  “  They  did  not  destroy 
the  nations,  concerning  whom  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded  them.  But  were  mingled  among  the 
heathen,  and  learned  their  works.  And  they 
served  their  idols,  which  were  a  snare  unto  them. 
Yea,  they  sacrificed  their  sons  and  their  daugh¬ 
ters  unto  devils,  and  shed  innocent  blood,  even 
the  blood  of  their  sons  and  of  their  daughters, 
whom  they  sacrificed  unto  the  idols  of  Canaan,; 
and  the  land  was  polluted  with  blood.  Therefore 
was  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  kindled  against  his 
people,  insomuch  that  he  abhorred  his  own  in¬ 
heritance,”  &c.  (Ps..  cvi.  34-40.)  Indeed,  the 
whole  hiatory  of  God’s  chosen  people  is  a  history 
of  God’s  hatred  of  idolatry.  Read  Ezekiel,  xvi. 
and  xviii.,  and  Rev.  xvii.,  &c.,  &c. 


12 


ORIGIN  OF  IDOLATRY. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ORIGIN  OF  IDOLATRY. 

The  prime  instigator  of  all  sin,  and  therefore 
of  idolatry,  is  Satan,  the  arch-enemy  of  God. 
The  efforts  of  the  Prince  of  Darkness  since  the 
Fall,  have  been  directed  towards  the  attainment  of 
one  grand  object,  the  subjugation  of  mankind.  He 
is  emphatically  the  god  of  this  world,  inasmuch 
as  a  vast  majority  of  the  human  race,  worship  at 
his  altars,  and  obey  his  laws,  thus  denying  the 
God  in  whose  hand  their  breath  is,  and  entering 
into  covenant  with  hell.  It  is  hardly  credible, 
that  the  grosser  forms  of  idolatry  and  supersti¬ 
tion  were  much  in  vogue  before  the  deluge.  The 
learned  researches  of  those  who  have  investigated 
the  subject,  seem  to  prove,  or  at  least  render  it 
extremely  probable,  that  Atheism  was  prevalent 
in  the  ages  preceding  the  flood,  and  that  instead 
of  a  belief  in  many  gods,  the  antideluvians  be- 


ORIGIN  OF  IDOLATRY. 


13 


lieved  in  none.  Subsequent  to  that  awful  judg¬ 
ment,  which  swept  a  race  of  rebels  from  the 
earth,  when  the  descendants  of  Noah  had  multi¬ 
plied,  we  find  that  in  the  course  of  a  very  few 
generations,  the  children  of  men  had  again  be¬ 
come  fearfully  degenerate.  As  a  monument  of 
their  impious  presumption,  they  commenced  build¬ 
ing  the  tower  of  Babel,  “  whose  top  should  reach 
to  heaven,”  but  Jehovah  baffled  the  ridiculous  en¬ 
terprise,  and  scattered  the  builders  by  confounding 
their  language.  A  general  dispersion  ensued. 
Different  companies,  whom  a  similarity  of  lan¬ 
guage  drew  together,  travelled  in  separate  bands 
to  the  various  countries  to  which  God  in  his  pro¬ 
vidence  directed  them ;  and  as  they  were  indebted 
to  the  heavenly  bodies  for  guidance,  and  deter¬ 
mined  their  course  by  observation  on  the  relative 
position  and  apparent  motions  of  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars,  it  is  supposed  that  they  then  learned  to 
regard  these  works  of  the  Creator  with  supersti¬ 
tious  veneration,  instead  of  “looking  from  nature 
up  to  nature’s  God so  that  in  all  probability 
this  was  the  first  and  simplest  form  of  idolatry. 
In  support  of  this  hypothesis,  the  undeniable  fact 


B 


14 


ORIGIN  OF  IDOLATRY. 


may  be  adduced,  that  the  oldest  nations  all  wor¬ 
shipped  these  heavenly  bodies  :  for  example — 

1.  The  Arabians  regarded  the  Sun  as  the  Su¬ 
preme  God,  and  the  stars  as  subordinate  deities. 

2.  The  Persians  held  all  who  paid  homage  to 
images  in  utter  abhorrence,  and  worshipped  only 
the  Sun  and  fire. 

3.  The  Babylonians  worshipped  the  Sun  under 
the  name  of  Bel.  The  Phoenicians  under  that  of 
Baal.  The  Scythians  called  the  Sun  their  lord, 
and  swore  by  it. 

4.  The  Ammonites  celebrated  the  horrid  rites 
of  Moloch  in  honour  of  the  Sun. 

5.  The  Osiris  of  the  Egyptians  was  a  type  of 
the  Sun  and  the  heavenly  bodies ;  hence  the  ap¬ 
pellation  of  “ many  eyed”  which  was  applied  to 
this  imaginary  deity,  as  though  every  star  in  the 
firmament  was  an  eye,  through  which  their  god 
looked  down  upon  the  earth,  and  watched  its  in¬ 
habitants. 

6.  The  Sun  was  the  Adonis  of  the  Syrians,  and 
the  moon  their  goddess,  Astarte. 

7.  The  Grecians  worshipped  the  Sun  under  the 
name  of  Phoebus ; 


ORIGIN  OF  IDOLATRY. 


15 


8.  The  Romans  under  that  of  Apollo ;  and  the 
moon  was  adored  by  them  under  the  various 
names  of  Minerva,  Venus,  Diana,  Juno,  &c. 

Chaldcea  was  the  birth-place ,  and  Babylon, 
(the  capital,)  was  the  mother  of  idolatry,  hence 
denominated  “  the  mother  of  harlots  and  the 
abominations  of  the  earth.”  (Rev.  xvii.  5.  From 
this  store-house  of  death,  the  seeds  of  idolatry 
were  disseminated  throughout  the  East,  and  soon 
covered  it  with  a  harvest  of  abominations.  Greece 
imported  them  from  Egypt,  and  scattered  the 
poison  throughout  the  Western  world,  until  Satan 
had  his  worshippers  under  every  green  tree,  and 
every  hill  and  mountain  was  a  high  place,  from 
which  the  smoking  altars  of  idolaters  cried  aloud 
to  the  God  of  heaven,  “  Depart  from  us,  we  de¬ 
sire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways.” 


16 


PROGRESS  OF  IDOLATRY. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PROGRESS  OF  IDOLATRY. 

There  was  one  particular  in  which  the  wor¬ 
shippers  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  soon  found 
their  idol  gods  deficient;  they  were  not  always 
visible,  and  from  this  they  inferred  they  were  not 
always  present.  To  remedy  this  defect  they  had 
recourse  to  images,  and  vainly  imagined  that 
after  these  senseless  blocks  had  been  consecrated 
with  some  foolish  ceremonies,  they  became  gods 
that  could  kill  and  make  alive.  This  shows  that 
when  men  have  cast  away  the  cords  with  which 
God  would  bind  them  to  himself,  their  course  is 
only  and  always  downward ;  the  longer  the  alien¬ 
ation  from  God  continues,  the  greater  is  the  de¬ 
gradation  of  its  subject,  until  at  last  his  steps  take 
hold  on  hell,  and  its  powers  move  from  beneath 
to  meet  him.  Idols  were  originally  either  pyra¬ 
mids,  or  rude  unshaped  stones;  as  the  art  of 


PROGRESS  OF  IDOLATRY. 


17 


sculpture  advanced,  blocks  of  marble  were  chi¬ 
selled  into  various  shapes;  but  the  human  form 
was  the  principal  model.  The  most  common  ex¬ 
ternal  act  expressive  of  worship  was,  kissing  the 
hand,  whilst  looking  reverently  towards  the  object 
of  adoration — but  it  was  not  long  before  the 
images  themselves  were  kissed.  To  this  custom 
the  prophet  Hosea  refers,  (Hos.  xiii.  2,)  “and  now 
they  sin  more  and  more,  and  have  made  them 
molten  images  of  their  silver,  and  idols  according 
to  their  own  understanding,  all  of  it  the  work  of 
craftsmen:  they  say  of  them,  let  the  men  that 
sacrifice,  kiss  the  calves .”  And  again,  in  the 
well  known  passage  in  which  God  tells  Elijah  of 
the  seven  thousand  who  had  not  bowed  the  knee 
to  Baal,  we  find  a  reference  to  this  custom — “  Yet 
I  have  left  me  seven  thousand  in  Israel,  all  the 
knees  which  have  not  bowed  to  Baal,  and  every 
month  which  hath  not  kissed  him.”  (1  Kings, 
xix.  18.) 

The  usual  mode  of  showing  divine  honours  to 
images,  was  by  presenting  offerings  of  flowers  and 
fruits,  after  the  idols  had  been  duly  anointed  and 
consecrated.  When  the  practice  of  erecting  altars 

b  2 


18 


PROGRESS  OF  IDOLATRY. 


had  become  common,  animals  were  sacrificed  in 
order  to  avert  the  displeasure  and  insure  the  fa¬ 
vour  of  these  imaginary  deities.  The  ridiculous 
vanity  of  such  gods  is  set  forth  in  Psalms,  xcv. 
4-8;  Isaiah,  xliv.  9-20;  Jer.  x.  3-15,  &c.  (These 
passages  will  repay  the  reader  for  their  perusal.) 
Trees  and  plants,  as  well  as  “  birds  and  four-footed 
beasts  and  creeping  things,”  shared  in  the  vene¬ 
ration  of  the  deluded  heathen,  who  changed  the 
truth  of  God  into  a  lie,  and  worshipped  the  crea¬ 
ture  more  than  the  Creator. 

The  grossest  form  of  idolatry  was  the  apothe¬ 
osis  of  men,  distinguished  either  for  personal 
prowess  or  any  remarkable  endowment  of  body 
or  mind.  In  other  words,  the  heathen  made 
gods  of  their  heroes ;  after  their  death,  they  were 
enrolled  among  the  number  of  their  deities.  Al¬ 
tars  were  erected  to  them,  their  statues  were  set 
up  in  public  places  and  worshipped,  and  in  this 
way,  additions  were  constantly  made  to  the  cata¬ 
logue  of  heathen  divinities.  Every  province,  city, 
and  family  had  its  peculiar  gods,  who  were  its 
tutelary,  (or  protecting),  deities.  No  doubt  the 
foolish  superstition  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 


PROGRESS  OF  IDOLATRY. 


19 


which  requires  its  members  to  be  under  the  par¬ 
ticular  patronage  of  some  tutelary  saint,  may  be 
traced  to  this  source.  But  the  utmost  stretch  of 
arrogant  folly  to  which  idolatry  ever  attained,  was 
this ;  that  poor  mortals,  children  of  the  dust,  crush¬ 
ed  before  the  moth — nay,  the  most  atrocious  mon¬ 
sters  in  human  shape,  claimed  divine  honours 
during  their  life-tune ,  and  had  temples  in  which 
they  were  worshipped !  Such  instances  are :  Alex¬ 
ander  the  Great,  the  Roman  Emperor  Caligula, 
and  Antiochus  the  Great,  of  whom  we  read,  (2 
Macc.  ix.  8-12),  that  when  on  his  way  to  Jeru¬ 
salem,  to  wreak  his  malicious  vengeance  on  the 
Jews,  God  smote  him  with  “  a  pain  that  was  re¬ 
mediless” — “  and  thus  he  that  a  little  afore  thought 
he  might  command  the  waves  of  the  sea,  (so  proud 
was  he  beyond  the  condition  of  man),  and  weigh 
the  high  mountains  in  a  balance,  was  now  cast  on 
the  ground,  and  carried  in  a  horse-litter,  showing 
forth  unto  all  the  manifest  power  of  God.  So  that 
the  worms  rose  up  out  of  the  body  of  this  wicked 
man,  and  while  he  lived  in  sorrow  and  pain  his 
flesh  fell  away,  and  the  filthiness  of  his  smell  was 
noisome  to  all  his  army.  And  the  man  that 


20 


PROGRESS  OF  IDOLATRY. 


thought  a  little  afore  he  could  reach  to  the  stars 
of  heaven,  no  man  could  endure  to  carry  for  his 
intolerable  stink.  Here,  therefore,  being  plagued, 
he  began  to  leave  off  his  great  pride,  and  to  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  himself  by  the  scourge  of 
God,  his  pain  increasing  every  moment.  And 
when  he  himself  could  not  abide  his  own  smell, 
he  said  these  words :  4  It  is  meet  to  be  subject  to 
God,  and  that  a  man  that  is  mortal  should  not 
proudly  think  of  himself  as  if  he  were  God.’  ” 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


21 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FALSE  PROPHETS. 

l 

The  great  adversary  of  God  and  man  has  uni¬ 
formly  blinded  his  deluded  followers,  by  counter¬ 
feiting  those  institutions  of  Jehovah  with  which 
they  were  acquainted.  God  had  revealed  himself 
by  a  peculiar  title,  Jehovah  or  Adonai,  i.  e.  Lord, 
Lord.  (Ex.  vi.,  iii.  3-14.)  And  Satan  claimed 
a  similar  name,  and  was  worshipped  as  Baal,  i.  e. 
Lord  or  Ruler,  by  almost  every  pagan  nation. 
The  idols  of  the  heathen  being  numerous,  are  fre¬ 
quently  called  Baalim,  Lords,  or  Joves ,  which  is 
no  doubt  derived  from  Jehovah ,  e.  g.  “  And  it 
shall  be  at  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  that  thou  shall 
call  me  Ishi ,  and  shalt  call  me  no  more  Baali ;  for 
I  will  take  away  the  names  of  Baalim  out  of  her 
mouth,  and  they  shall  no  more  be  remembered 
by  their  name.”  (Hos.  ii.  17).  Hence,  too,  the 
worship  of  idols  and  devils  is  synonymous;  for 


22 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


which  reason  Paul  writes  to  the  Corinthians,  “  But 
I  say  that  the  things  which  the  Gentiles  sacrifice 
they  sacrifice  to  devils  and  not  to  God :  and  I  would 
not  that  ye  should  have  fellowship  with  devils.” 
(1  Cor.  x.  20.) 

Again ;  God  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  man¬ 
ners  spake  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets, 
(Heb  i.  1),  and  Satan  attempted  something  similar 
through  the  fanaticism  of  enthusiasts,  devilish  ap¬ 
paritions,  &c.,  and  by  all  the  means  which,  as 
the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,”  were  at  his 
command.  It  would  be  altogether  foreign  to  the 
purpose  to  attempt  determining  the  limits  of  Sa¬ 
tan’s  agency.  This  is  a  vexed  question,  and  like 
the  generality  of  such  points  utterly  unprofitable. 
But  we  do  know  that  “  he  now  works  in  the 
children  of  disobedience,”  (Eph.  ii.  2),  that  “  he 
hath  blinded  the  minds  of  them  which  believe 
not,”  (2  Cor.  iv.  4),  and  that  he  always  has  been 
the  instigator  of  wickedness,  (1  Chron.  xxi.  1, 
John,  xiii.  2),  ever  since  the  Fall.  (Gen.  iii.)  Of 
this  we  may  be  sure,  though  the  serpent’s  head 
has  been  bruised  by  the  seed  of  the  woman,  the 
devil  still  goes  about  like  a  roaring  lion,  seeking 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


23 


whom  he  may  devour.  (Gen.  iii.  15.)  If  his 
chain  has  been  shortened,  lie  will  stretch  it  to  its 
full  length,  in  order  to  terrify  those  whom  he  can¬ 
not  rend.  But  to  return.  Satan  had  his  prophets 
also.  Jehovah  confirmed  the  message  and  decla¬ 
rations  of  those  whom  He  sent,  by  signs  and  won¬ 
ders;  and  Satan,  to  the  full  extent  of  his  powers, 
did  the  same  by  his  messengers ;  and  by  means  of 
false  miracles  and  the  tricks  of  jugglers  and  ne¬ 
cromancers,  greatly  promoted  his  cause.  Exodus, 
Chapters  vii. ,  viii.,  and  ix.,  furnish  proof  of  this. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  feats  of  the  magi¬ 
cians  had  a  direct  tendency  to  harden  Pharaoh’s 
heart,  by  making  him  believe  that  the  power  of 
Moses’  God  was  no  greater  than  that  of  the  gods 
of  Egypt.  There  are  several  kinds  of  false  pro¬ 
phets  of  whom  we  read  in  Scripture,  of  which  we 
will  enumerate  the  principal. 

I.  Kosem,  a  diviner:  one  who  paid  particular 
attention  to  signs,  or  more  properly,  determined 
doubtful  cases  by  .the  lot.  To  this  superstition 
Haman  was  addicted.  (Esther,  iii.  7 ;  ix.  24.) 
The  Lord  solemnly  warns  his  people  against  all 


24 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


such  practices.  (Lev.  xix.  31 ;  xx.  6-27.)  There 
were  several  kinds  of  diviners. 

1 .  Those  who  asked  counsel  at  a  stock  or  a  staff. 
“  My  people  ask  counsel  at  their  stocks,  and  their 
staff  declareth  unto  them.”  (Hos.  iv.  12.)  This  was 
done  in  various  ways.  A  common  method  was 
that  of  spanning  the  staff,  or  measuring  it  with  a 
span  from  thumb  to  finger,  in  order  to  ascertain 
which  of  two  alternatives  to  choose.  Another 
mode  was,  to  write  names  or  directions  on  different 
staves,  and  then  cast  lots  to  determine  which  should 
be  taken;  or  the  directions  were  written  upon  ar¬ 
rows,  which  were  shot  out  in  order  to  direct  the 
proper  road  when  the  way  was  doubtful.  “  For 
the  King  of  Babylon  stood  at  the  parting  of  the 
way,  at  the  head  of  the  two  ways,  to  use  divina¬ 
tion  ;  he  made  his  arrows  bright,  he  consulted  with 
images,  he  looked  in  the  liver,”  &c.  (Ezek.  xxi. 
21-22. 

2.  A  second  kind  of  diviners  consisted  of  those 
who  examined  the  entrails  of  sacrifices.  (Ezek. 
xxi.  21.)  The  colour,  position,  or  number  of  the 
entrails  was  made  a  criterion  by  means  of  which 
doubts  were  decided.  This  superstitious  custom 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


25 


originated  in  Chaldcea,  whence  the  Lydians  im¬ 
ported  it,  and  from  them  the  Romans  learned  its 
practice. 

3.  Another  mode  of  divination  was  the  custom 
of  opening  a  book  of  one  of  their  poets,  &c.,  at 
random,  and  then  considering  the  first  sentence 
upon  which  the  eye  rested  as  a  divine  answer  to 
a  question  previously  proposed.  I  have  known 
some  calling  themselves  Christians,  practice  this 
very  divination  with  their  Bibles.  But  surely  there 
is  no  need  of  borrowing  from  the  abominations  of 
idolatry,  when  the  blessed  Saviour  has  promised 
Spirit  of  the  truth  to  all  who  will  ask  for  it,  and  has 
expressly  said:  “What  things  soever  ye  desire 
when  ye  pray,  believe  that  ye  receive  them  and 
ye  shall  have  them.”  (Mark,  xi.  24.)  And  again : 
“  If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God, 
who  giveth  to  all  men  liberally  and  upraideth  not, 
and  it  shall  be  given  him.”  (James,  i.  5.) 

4.  A  fourth  class  of  diviners  was  that  including 
the  interpreters  of  dreams.  They  were  very  nu¬ 
merous  in  Egypt  and  Chaldoea.  (Gen.  lxi.  8.  Dan. 
ii.  2-9.)  There  is  an  interesting  account  in  the 
Bible  of  a  very  good  man  who  was  skilled  in  in- 

c 


26 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


terpreting  dreams.  His  name  was  Joseph ;  he  was 
the  son  of  Jacob  and  Rachel.  God  gave  him  great 
knowledge,  besides  endowing  him  with  many 
other  talents.  He  was  Jacob’s  favourite  son,  and 
unfortunately  both  for  Joseph  and  his  father,  no 
effort  was  made  by  his  parent  to  conceal  the  par¬ 
tiality  which  was  felt  for  him,  and  the  consequence 
was,  the  jealousy  of  Joseph’s  brothers  was  awak¬ 
ened.  Their  envy  was  further  excited  by  the 
narration  of  two  dreams,  which  he  with  great 
simplicity  detailed  in  their  hearing.  Now,  al¬ 
though  the  artless  disposition  of  Joseph  was  mani¬ 
fested  by  the  recital  of  his  dreams,  yet  he  cer¬ 
tainly  evinced  very  little  wisdom  in  speaking  about 
them  as  he  did,  particularly  as  he  was  already  re¬ 
garded  by  his  brethren  with  an  evil  eye.  One  day 
he  was  sent  by  his  father  to  see  after  his  brothers, 
who  had  gone  to  some  distance  to  feed  their  flocks. 
He  had  considerable  difficulty  in  finding  them; 
they  had  espied  him  some  time  before  he  came  up 
to  them,  and  were  wicked  enough  to  consult  to¬ 
gether  about  killing  him.  Reuben  plead  hard  for 
the  poor  boy’s  life,  and  prevailed  so  far  as  to  in¬ 
duce  them  to  refrain  from  shedding  his  blood ;  they 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


27 


let  him  down  alive  into  a  pit,  which  was  close  at 
hand.  It  so  happened,  that  just  at  this  very  time, 
a  company  of  Midianitish  merchants  passed  by, 
and  it  was  resolved  that  Joseph  should  be  sold  to 
them.  He  was  accordingly  taken  out  of  the  pit, 
and  purchased  by  the  merchants  for  twenty  pieces 
of  silver ;  they  then  went  on,  and  carried  their 
captive  with  them  into  Egypt.  You  may  imagine 
the  feelings  of  Jacob,  when  his  sons  brought  home 
Joseph’s  coat  of  many  colours  all  stained  with 
blood,  and  told  the  old  man  this  was  the  only  ves¬ 
tige  of  his  darling  son  which  they  could  find.  He 
was  in  great  distress,  supposing  that  his  beloved 
child  had  been  devoured  by  wild  beasts;  indeed 
he  would  not  be  comforted.  Meanwhile  the  Mi- 
dianites  had  sold  their  captive  to  Potiphar,  an  of¬ 
ficer  of  Pharaoh,  King  of  Egypt.  The  Lord  had 
not  forgotten  Joseph,  but  was  with  him  and  pros¬ 
pered  him,  so  that  he  found  favour  with  his  mas¬ 
ter,  who  made  him  overseer  in  his  house.  But  an 
event  occurred  which  at  first  appeared  likely  to 
blast  all  the  flattering  prospects  of  the  young  He¬ 
brew  :  for,  owing  to  a  wicked  falsehood  fabricated 
by  Potiphar’s  wife,  Joseph  was  thrown  into  prison. 


28 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


He  might  have  avoided  this  calamity,  but  he  chose 
rather  to  suffer  than  to  sin,  and  God  did  not  for¬ 
sake  him.  Even  in  the  dungeon,  the  Lord  raised 
up  friends  for  him,  so  that  the  keeper  of  the  prison 
committed  to  Joseph’s  hand  all  those  who  were 
under  his  charge.  After  some  time,  two  of  Pha¬ 
raoh’s  principal  officers,  having  incurred  their 
master’s  displeasure,  were  sent  to  prison,  and 
came  under  Joseph’s  care.  They  each  had  a  re¬ 
markable  dream  in  one  and  the  same  night.  You 
will  find  an  account  of  the  dreams,  together  with 
Joseph’s  interpretation,  in  Chapter  lx.  of  Genesis. 
The  event  agreed  with  his  prediction.  It  was  full 
two  years  after  this  when  Pharaoh  was  troubled 
by  strange  visions  in  the  night,  fie  thought  he 
was  standing  by  the  river,  when  all  at  once  seven 
fine  cattle  came  up  out  of  the  water  and  began  to 
feed  in  a  meadow.  It  was  not  long  before  they 
were  followed  by  seven  other  cattle,  which  were 
lean  and  ill-favoured,  and  these  kine  eat  up  the 
others.  So  Pharaoh  awoke.  Presently  he  fell 
asleep  again,  and  dreamed  the  second  time.  He 
saw  seven  ears  of  corn  come  up  on  one  stalk,  rank 
and  good,  and  then  seven  thin  ears,  blasted  with 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


29 


the  east  wind,  sprung  up  after  them.  These  thin 
ears  devoured  the  good  grain  which  came  up  first. 
Next  morning  Pharaoh  was  in  great  perplexity, 
and  sent  for  all  the  magicians  and  interpreters  of 
dreams  in  Egypt,  but  there  was  not  one  among 
them  that  could  make  out  what  his  dreams  meant. 
The  chief  butler,  who  had  promised  to  remember 
his  friend  when  he  came  out  of  prison,  was  now 
reminded  of  his  neglect,  and  told  Pharaoh  about 
Joseph.  They  send  for  him  in  great  haste,  and 
the  king  accosts  him  at  once  with  the  matter  that 
weighed  upon  his  mind :  “  I  have  dreamed  a  dream, 
and  there  is  none  that  can  interpret  it,  and  I  have 
heard  say  of  thee  that  thou  canst  understand  a 
a  dream  to  interpret  it.”  Joseph’s  answer  is  worthy 
of  remark.  He  would  not  admit  what  Pharaoh 
said,  because  the  king’s  words  implied  that  he  laid 
claim  to  this  skill  just  as  the  false  interpreters  of 
Egypt  did,  whereas  he  gave  all  the  glory  to  God. 
“  It  is  not  in  me,  but  God  shall  give  Pharaoh  an 
answer  of  peace.”  God  did  not  put  his  servant’s 
confidence  to  shame,  for  no  sooner  were  the 
dreams  told  than  they  were  interpreted,  and  Jo¬ 
seph’s  predictions  were  all  verified.  The  seven 

c  2 


so 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


years  of  plenty,  which  had  been  typified  by  the 
seven  fat  cattle,  and  the  seven  good  ears,  were 
followed  by  the  seven  years  of  famine,  of  which  the 
lean  kine  and  the  blasted  ears  of  corn  had  been  the 
emblems.  Joseph  was  exalted  to  be  the  second 
ruler  in  Egypt;  and  during  the  famine  he  supplied 
his  brothers  and  his  aged  father  with  corn,  and 
saved  them  from  starvation.  Joseph’s  history  is 
contained  in  Genesis  from  Chapter  xlii.  to  I.  You 
may  read  another  very  interesting  account  of  one 
who  was  inspired  by  God  with  such  wisdom  that 
he  could  interpret  dreams  which  nobody  else  could 
understand,  in  Daniel  ii.  Now  all  those  who  pre¬ 
tended  to  be  able  to  unravel  mysteries  of  this  kind, 
and  were  not  taught  of  God ,  were  wicked  impos¬ 
tors  and  priests  of  idolatry. 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


31 


|  .  / 

CHAPTER  V. 

FALSE  PROPHETS. 

II.  Meonen.  Under  this  head  are  included,  not 
only  jugglers,  who  deceived  the  people  by  feats  of 
legerdemain,  but  also  astrologers,  who  pretended, 
by  means  of  observations  upon  meteors  and  the 
heavenly  bodies,  to  foretell  events.  They  divided 
the  heavens  into  apartments  or  habitations,  to 
each  one  of  which  they  assigned  a  ruler  or  presi¬ 
dent.  This  fact  develops  the  origin  of  the  word 
Beelzeboul,  or  the  lord  of  the  (celestial)  buildings. 
(Matt.  x.  25,  xii.  24-27 ;  Mark,  iii.  22 ;  Luke,  xi. 
15-19.)  The  study  of  astrology  was  interdicted  to 
the  Hebrews — “  There  shall  not  be  found  among 
you  any  one  that  maketh  his  son  or  his  daughter 
to  pass  through  the  fire,  or  that  useth  divination,  or 
an  observer  of  times  ”  &c.  (Deut.  xviii.  10.) 

God  threatens  Babylon  with  judgments  for  her 
wickedness,  and  the  prophet  Isaiah  says  in  deri-  . 


32 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


sion,  “  Let  now  the  astrologers,  the  star-gazers, 
the  monthly  prognosticators,  stand  up  and  save 
thee  from  these  things  that  shall  come  upon  thee. 
Behold,  they  shall  be  as  stubble,  the  fire  shall 
burn  them;  they  shall  not  deliver  themselves 
from  the  power  of  the  flame,”  &c.  (Is.  xlvii.  13, 
14.)  Daniel,  it  is  true,  gained  some  knowledge 
of  the  art,  but  he  did  not  practise  it.  Is  it  not  a 
burning  shame,  that,  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
there  should  be  found  Christian  booksellers, 
who  display  the  monthly  horoscope  at  their  win¬ 
dows?  and  that  in  enlightened  Philadelphia,  there 
should  be  a  sufficient  number  of  heathen  to  sus¬ 
tain  the  “  monthly  prognosticators,”  in  the  publi¬ 
cation  of  their  silly  predictions  ? 

III.  Menachesh.  The  augur,  who  found 
omens  of  good  or  evil  in  the  flight  or  screams  of 
birds.  This  was  an  invention  of  the  Chaldceans, 
but  they  did  not  long  remain  the  sole  proprietors 
of  the  art,  for  the  Greeks  and  Romans  soon  be¬ 
came  as  much  addicted  to  it  as  their  teachers  in 
superstition.  Indeed,  it  was  their  favourite  mode 
of  divination.  It  is  believed  that  this  was  one  of 
the  abominations  with  which  Manasseh,  king  of 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


33 


i 

| 


Judah,  provoked  the  Lord  to  anger.  (2  Chron. 
xxxiii.  6.) 

IV.  Mecascheph.  Magician,  sorcerer,  or  jug¬ 
gler.  They  deceived  the  people  by  false  mira¬ 
cles — and  no  doubt,  like  Jannes  and  Jambres, 
the  opposers  of  Moses  (2  Tim.  iii.  8,)  at  the 
court  of  Pharaoh,  were  frequently,  by  the  direct 
aid  of  Satan,  enabled  to  perform  real  mira¬ 
cles.  (Exod.  vii.  viii.)  There  are  accounts  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  of  two  sorcerers.  At 
the  time  of  the  great  persecution  of  the  followers 
of  Christ,  which  commenced  with  the  murder  of 
Stephen,  the  disciples  were  scattered  abroad,  and 
went  every  where  preaching  the  word.  Philip, 
(probably  not  one  of  the  twelve,  but  the  deacon 
of  whom  we  read,  1  Tim.  iii.  13,)  went  down  to 
Sychar,  the  metropolis  of  Samaria,  and  preached 
there  with  great  power,  and  by  the  grace  of  God 
performed  many  astonishing  miracles,  so  that  a 
great  multitude  believed  the  gospel.  Among 
those  who  were  apparently  converted,  was  a  ma¬ 
gician,  called  Simon,  “  who  had  bewitched  the 
people  of  Samaria  "by  his  sorcery.”  Simon  made 
a  profession  of  faith  in  Jesus,  and  was  baptized 


34 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


with  the  other  converts.  The  event  proved  that 
he  was  not,  at  that  time  at  least,  a  child  of  God — 
for,  when  Peter  and  John  had  come  to  the  help  of 
Philip,  and  in  answer  to  their  prayers,  by  the  im¬ 
position  of  the  Apostles’  hands,  the  extraordinary 
gifts  conveyed  by  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  had  been  conferred  upon 
the  young  converts,  Simon  offered  to  buy  this 
power  with  money.  This  was  very  wicked — it 
was  insulting  God  to  imagine  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
could  be  purchased  with  money;  besides,  Simon 
evidently  desired  this  gift  to  promote  his  own 
selfish  views,  and  not  God’s  glory.  Peter  re¬ 
buked  him  very  sharply — “  Thy  money  perish 
with  thee,  because  thou  hast  thought  that  the  gift 
of  God  may  be  purchased  with  money.  Thou 
hast  neither  part  nor  lot  in  this  matter,  for  thy 
heart  is  not  right  in  the  sight  of  God.  Repent, 
therefore,  of  this  thy  wickedness,  and  pray  God, 
if  perhaps  the  thought  of  thine  heart  may  be  for¬ 
given  thee,  for  I  perceive  that  thou  art  in  the  gall 
of  bitterness  and  in  the  bonds  of  iniquity.”  (Acts, 
viii.) 

Whether  Simon  repented  or  not,  is  uncertain ; 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


35 


it  is  true,  he  asked  the  Apostle  to  pray  for  him, 
that  the  threatened  judgments  of  God  might  be 
averted,  but  if  he  did  not  pray  himself  his  soul 
must  have  been  lost.  There  is  a  narrative,  in  the 
thirteenth  chapter,  of  another  sorcerer,  who  en¬ 
deavoured  to  turn  away  Sergius  Paulus  from  the 
faith,  but  the  hand  of  the  Lord  came  upon  him, 
and  he  was  struck  blind.  (Acts,  xiii.  8-11.) 

These  sorcerers  were  in  direct  league  wTith  the 
devil,  and  practised  their  witchcraft  through  his 
aid.  Now,  though  it  is  generally  believed  that 
Satan  has  not  such  power  at  this  day,  as  he  had 
before  Jesus  died,  yet  such  persons  still  exist,  and 
by  false  miracles,  tricks,  &c.,  they  deceive  great 
numbers.  It  is  very  wicked  to  have  any  dealing 
with  them,  or  to  have  recourse  to  fortune-tellers, 
diviners,  charmers,  &c.,  because, 

1.  It  is  imitating  idolatrous  heathens. 

2.  Such  persons  are  held  in  abhorrence  by  the 
Lord,  and  their  very  existence  forbidden.  “  And 
the  soul  that  turneth  after  such  as  have  familiar 
spirits,  and  after  wizards,  I  will  even  set  my  face 
against  that  soul,  and  will  cut  him  off  from  among 
his  people.”  (Lev.  xx.  6.) 


36 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


3.  God  threatens  to  punish  those  who  consult 
them.  (Lev.  xx.  6.) 

4.  It  is  setting  an  awful  example  to  others,  and 
is  often  productive  of  the  greatest  evils,  decep¬ 
tion,  disappointment,  and  incredible  mischief. 

V.  Ciiobher.  Exorcist,  charmer.  This  was 
one  who  pretended  to  drive  away  evil  spirits  by 
performing  certain  ridiculous  ceremonies ;  or, 
who  professed  to  have  intercourse  with  devils 
through  sacrifices  and  offerings.  Animals  were 
also  exorcised.  Whenever  it  was  believed  that 
a  beast  was  possessed,  an  exorcist  was  sent 
for,  to  drive  out  the  evil  spirit,  which  he  profess- 
to  be  able  to  effect,  by  muttering  some  myste¬ 
rious  and  unmeaning  words,  and  going  over  a 
routine  of  senseless  mummery.  An  allusion  is 
made  to  this  practice  by  the  Psalmist :  “  Their 
poison  is  like  the  poison  of  a  serpent ;  they  are 
like  the  deaf  adder  that  stoppeth  his  ear  ;  which 
will  not  hearken  to  the  voice  of  charmers,  charm¬ 
ing  never  so  wisely.”  (Ps.  Iviii.  4,  5.) 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


3? 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FALSE  PROPHETS. 

VI.  Schoel-obh.  One  who  had  a  spirit  of  divi¬ 
nation,  or  a  familiar  spirit.  This  endowment  was 
claimed  by  women  as  well  as  men.  There  is  one 
remarkable  instance  which  you  may  read,  1  Sam. 
xxviii.  Saul  acted  wickedly  in  inquiring  of  the 
witch  of  Endor,  instead  of  asking  counsel  of  the 
Lord,  and  God  punished  him  with  an  awful  judg¬ 
ment  for  this  transgression.  When  Paul  and  Silas 
were  at  Philippi,  they  were  greatly  troubled  by  a 
young  woman  who  had  a  spirit  of  divination,  and 
who  used  to  come  when  they  were  at  prayer,  and 
cry  out,  “  these  men  are  the  servants  of  the  most 
high  God,  which  teach  us  the  way  of  salvation.” 
Paul  being  grieved,  turned  and  said  to  the  spirit,  “  I 
command  thee  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  to  come 
out  of  her.”  The  evil  spirit  immediately  obeyed. 

D 


38 


FALSE  PROPHETS'. 


It  seems  the  poor  young  woman  was  maintained 
by  certain  men,  who  made  money  by  her  divina¬ 
tions,  and  when  they  saw  that  the  hope  of  their 
gains  was  gone,  they  became  very  angry,  and 
having  laid  hands  on  Paul  and  Silas,  hurried  them 
before  the  magistrate,  and  accused  them  of  trou¬ 
bling  the  city,  and  teaching  things  unlawful  for 
Romans  to  receive  or  observe.  This  was  enough 
in  those  days  to  insure  persecution  to  the  Apostles ; 
and  accordingly,  after  they  had  been  severely 
beaten,  they  were  thrown  into  the  inner  prison. 
No  doubt  Satan  rejoiced  that  things  had  taken 
such  a  turn,  and  that  he  could  thus  be  revenged 
on  these  men  of  God.  But  his  triumph  was  of 
short  duration.  At  midnight  Paul  and  Silas,  with 
their  feet  fast  in  the  stocks,  prayed  and  sang 
praises  to  God,  and  the  prisoners  heard  them . 
What  must  the  prisoners  have  thought?  How 
strange  to  hear  songs  of  rejoicing  in  a  place  which 
usually  resounded  with  groans  and  cries  of  dis¬ 
tress  !  But,  after  all,  it  was  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
for  this  abode  of  guilt  and  wretchedness  had  become 
a  tabernacle  of  the  righteous,  and  there  the  voice  of 
rejoicing  is  always  heard.  (Ps.  xviii.  15.)  Plow 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


39 


sweet  were  those  strains  which  broke  the  silence  of 
midnight,  and  echoed  from  the  inner  prison  through 
every  cell  of  that  gloomy  dungeon !  They  prayed 
and  sang  praises  to  God !  They  were  bloody 
from  the  stripes  they  had  received,  faint  and 
weary  with  fatigue,  and  their  feet  being  fast  in  the 
stocks,  their  bodies  were  kept  in  a  position  which 
alone  was  distressing  in  the  extreme.  Probably 
they  had  slept  a  few  hours  and  now  awoke,  and 
the  first  thing  they  do,  is  not  to  complain  and  be¬ 
moan  their  hard  lot,  hut  to  pray  and  sing  praises 
to  God!  David  says :  “  At  midnight  I  will  rise  to 
give  thanks  unto  thee,  because  of  thy  righteous 
judgments,”  (Ps.  cxix.  62),  and  at  midnight  Paul 
and  Silas  prayed  and  sang  praises  to  God!  The 
prisoners  heard  them  and  God  heard  them.  Sud¬ 
denly  the  foundations  of  the  prison  were  shaken 
by  a  mighty  earthquake,  and  immediately  all  the 
doors  were  opened,  and  every  one’s  bands  were 
loosed.  The  fetters  which  bound  Paul  and  Silas 
fell  off  like  the  green  withes  from  the  limbs  of 
Samson.  “  The  right  hand  of  the  Lord  is  exalted, 
the  right  hand  of  the  Lord  doeth  valiantly!” 
Every  one  of  the  prisoners  was  suddenly  set  at 


40 


FALSE  PROPHETS* 


liberty ;  God  hereby  signifying,  that  the  Apostles 
in  preaching  the  gospel,  were  public  blessings  to 
mankind.  The  jailor,  awaking  out  of  his  sleep, 
and  seeing  the  prison  doors  open,  drew  out  his 
sword  and  would  have  killed  himself,  supposing 
the  prisoners  had  been  fled.  But  Paul  cried  with 
a  loud  voice,  “  do  thyself  no  harm,  for  we  are  all 
here.”  Here  was  another  admirable  trait  of  Chris¬ 
tian  character.  Paul  and  Silas  did  not  count  the 
keeper  of  the  prison  their  enemy,  though  he  had 
thrust  them  into  the  inner  dungeon,  and  after¬ 
wards,  to  aggravate  their  distress,  had  made  their 
feet  fast  in  the  stocks !  This  latter  precaution  was 
altogether  unnecessary ;  the  jailor  might  have  been 
content,  wrhen  he  had  secured  his  prisoners,  (meek 
and  inoffensive  as  they  were,)  in  the  hold  whence 
they  could  not  possibly  escape,  without  subjecting 
them  to  the  additional  constraint  of  the  stocks. 
But  Paul  and  Silas  loved  their  enemies.  They 
had  so  learned  Christ  that  they  rejoiced  in  doing 
good  to  them,  who  despitefully  used  them  and 
persecuted  them.  They  preached  the  gospel  of 
peace  to  the  trembling  jailor,  the  Spirit  of  truth 
set  their  testimony  home  to  his  conscience, 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


45 


and  he  with  all  his  house  was  made  a  tro¬ 
phy  of  victorious  grace !  What  a  triumph  was 
here.  Satan  was  vanquished  in  one  of  his  dun¬ 
geons!  He  had  instigated  wicked  men  to  thrust 
God’s  servants  into  prison,  and  was  glad  when  he 
saw  that  Paul  and  Silas  were  fast  in  the  stocks, 
but  he  could  not  keep  them  bound  in  afflictions 
and  iron.  Not  only  were  their  chains  broken,  but 
Satan’s  captives  burst  forth  into  the  glorious  li¬ 
berty  of  children  of  God.  How  easy  it  is  for 
God  to  make  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and 
after  baffling  and  breaking  the  power  of  Satan,  to 
bring  light  out  of  darkness  and  order  out  of  con¬ 
fusion  !  (Acts,  xvi.) 

VII.  Jiddeoni.  Wizard.  We  find  such  cha¬ 
racters  often  condemned  in  the  Old  Testament 
in  strong  language,  and  all  intercourse  with  them 
strictly  prohibited.  “  Regard  not  them  that  have 
familiar  spirits,  neither  seek  after  wizards  to  be 
defiled  by  them.”  (Lev.  xix.  31.)  Amongst  the 
“  much  wickedness  which  Manasseh  wrought  to 
provoke  the  Lord  to  anger,”  it  is  related  of  him  that 
“  he  used  enchantments,  and  dealt  with  familiar 
spirits  and  wizards.”  (2  Kings,  xxi.  6.)  Of  good 

n  2 


42 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


King  Josiah  it  is  said:  “  Moreover,  the  workers 
with  familiar  spirits,  and  the  wizards,  and  the 
images,  and  the  idols,  and  all  the  abominations 
that  were  spied  in  the  land  of  Judah  and  in  Jeru¬ 
salem,  did  Josiah  put  away,”  &c.  (2  Kings,  xxiii. 
24.)  Wizards  pretended  to  be  able  to  cure  or  in¬ 
flict  sickness  at  their  option,  and  in  short,  to  have 
power  to  reward  their  friends  and  punish  the  ob¬ 
jects  of  their  malice  whenever  they  saw  proper. 

VIII.  Doresch-el  Hammethim.  Necro¬ 
mancers.  These  were  false  prophets,  who  con¬ 
sulted  departed  spirits  concerning  future  or  secret 
things.  Such  characters  are  designated  in  Scrip¬ 
ture  by  the  term,  “  those  who  have  familiar  spi¬ 
rits.”  Isaiah  reproaches  the  idolaters  of  Judah  for 
applying  to  them  instead  of  to  the  Lord.  “  When 
they  shall  say  unto  you,  seek  unto  them  that  have 
familiar  spirits  and  unto  wizards  that  peep  and 
mutter,  should  not  a  people  seek  unto  their  God?” 
(Isaiah,  viii.  19.)  And  again,  when  God  threatens 
Jerusalem  by  the  same  prophet,  he  says :  “  Thou 
shalt  be  brought  down,  and  shalt  speak  out  of  the 
ground,  and  thy  speech  shall  be  low  out  of  the 
dust,  and  thy  voice  shall  be  as  one  that  hath  a  fa- 


FALSE  PROPHETS. 


43 


miliar  spirit  out  of  the  ground,  and  thy  speech 
shall  whisper  out  of  the  dust.  (Isaiah,  xxxix.  4.) 

The  way  in  which  inquiry  was  made  of  those 
who  had  familiar  spirits  was  this.  The  necro¬ 
mancer  having  repaired  at  night  to  the  grave  of 
the  dead  person  from  whose  soul  the  information 
was  desired,  burnt  a  certain  kind  of  incense,  and 
then  holding  a  rod  of  myrtle  in  his  hand,  muttered 
some  mysterious  words,  and  pretended  to  hear  an 
answer  to  his  question,  coming  out  of  the  ground. 
These  are  the  principal  kind  of  false  prophets,  of 
which  mention  is  made  in  the  Bible.  The  pre¬ 
ceding  statements  show  how  completely  Satan 
had  blinded  the  eyes  of  the  heathen,  leading  them 
captive  at  his  will.  Oh !  how  thankful  should  we 
be  that  our  lot  has  been  cast  in  a  Christian  land, 
where  the  gospel  is  preached  in  simplicity  and 
power,  and  that  we  have  God’s  Word  as  a  lamp 
to  our  feet,  and  a  light  to  our  path. 


44 


ORACLES  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ORACLES  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 

The  various  oracles  of  heathen  nations  origi¬ 
nated  in  the  superstitious  rites  and  ceremonies  to 
which  we  have  referred  in  the  last  chapter.  The 
word,  oracle ,  denotes  something  which  has  been 
delivered  by  supernatural  wisdom.  The  term  is 
used  in  the  Old  Testament  to  signify  the  Most  Holy 
place,  from  which  the  Lord  revealed  his  will  to 
Israel.  In  the  description  of  the  temple,  which 
Solomon  built,  we  read  (1  Kings,  vi.  5,)  “  And 
against  the  wall  of  the  house  he  built  chambers 
round  about,  both  of  the  temple  and  of  the  ora - 
cle .”  And  again,  in  the  19th  verse — “  The  ora¬ 
cle  he  prepared  in  the  house  within,  to  set  there 
the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord.”  While 
Israel  kept  her  covenant  with  the  Lord,  counsel 
was  always  asked  of  God,  in  difficult  or  critical 
circumstances,  and  then  Jehovah  directed  his  peo- 


ORACLES  OE  THE  HEATHEN. 


45 


pie  what  course  to  take.  This  institution  of  the 
Lord  was  also  imitated  by  Satan.  He  gave  verbal 
responses  to  his  priests,  couched  in  ambiguous 
language,  so  that,  let  the  event  prove  what  it 
might,  the  credit  of  the  oracle  would  still  be  sus¬ 
tained.  The  Lord  answered  his  priests  from  one 
particular  place,  the  holy  of  holies,  within  the 
tabernacle  or  temple,  and  Satan  likewise  chose 
certain  places,  in  which  he  established  his  ora¬ 
cles.  There  were  three  which  were  very  cele¬ 
brated. 

1.  The  oracle  of  Jupiter -Ammon,  in  Egypt. 
This  was  the  most  ancient.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  instituted  in  honour  of  Ham,  the  son  of 
Noah,  and  was  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  vast 
sandy  desert  of  Libya.  Alexander  the  Great 
undertook  a  journey  to  this  temple,  in  order  that 
he  might  be  proclaimed  as  the  son  of  Jupiter-Am- 
mon,  through  the  oracle.  This  was  easily  obtain¬ 
ed  by  bribing  the  priestess. 

2.  The  Dodonian  Oracle ,  so  called  from  Do- 
dona,  a  city  of  Epirus,  in  which  it  was  estab¬ 
lished. 

3.  The  Delphian  or  Pythian  Oracle ,  at  Delphi, 


46 


ORACLES  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


in  Greece.  This  was  the  most  renowned.  There 
are  several  points  of  resemblance  between  some 
of  the  orgies  of  Satan  and  the  institutions  of  Je¬ 
hovah,  which  are  so  striking  that  it  will  not  be 
unprofitable  to  advert  to  them,  inasmuch  as  they 
furnish  additional  evidence  of  the  truth,  that  Sa¬ 
tan’s  favourite  mode  of  disseminating  error,  is  to 
disguise  it  in  the  garb  of  truth. 

1 .  The  temple  of  the  Delphian  idol  was  built  in 
the  form  of  the  tabernacle,  and  was  surrounded 
with  curtains  of  leather,  or  covered  with  various 
kinds  of  skins. 

2.  In  the  vestibule  or  porch  of  the  Delphian 
temple  was  an  altar,  upon  which  fire  was  kept 
constantly  burning,  like  that  which  was  main¬ 
tained  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings  in  the  taber¬ 
nacle.  “  The  fire  upon  the  altar  shall  be  burning 
in  it ;  it  shall  not  be  put  out ;  and  the  priest  shall 
burn  wood  on  it  every  morning,  and  lay  the 
burnt-offering  in  order  upon  it ;  and  he  shall  burn 
thereon  the  fat  of  the  peace-offerings.  The.  fire 
shall  ever  be  burning  upon  the  altar;  it  shall 
never  go  out.”  (Lev.  vi.  xii.  xiii.)  This  fire  was 
called  in  Greek  “  hestia,”  which  is  evidently  de- 


ORACLES  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


47 


rived  from  the  Hebrew  “  esch-jab,”  the  fire  of 
the  Lord.  Hence  we  have  the  origin  of  the  Latin 
goddess,  Vesta,  upon  whose  altar  the  fire  was 
never  permitted  to  go  out. 

3.  The  golden  tripod,  (which  was  designed  to 
represent  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  Jehovah’s  foot¬ 
stool  or  dwelling-place,  from  which  he  spoke  to 
Moses,  Exod.  xxv.  21,  22,)  was  a  stool  with  three 
feet,  and  like  the  covering  of  the  ark  or  mercy- 
seat,  was  surrounded  with  a  golden  crown.  It 
stood  over  the  mouth  of  a  cave,  out  of  which  the 
unclean  spirit  ascended  into  the  priestess,  who  sat 
upon  it,  who  then,  as  though  possessed  by  the  de¬ 
vil,  whilst  writhing  in  convulsions,  gave  her  re¬ 
sponses  with  foaming  mouth  and  compressed  lips, 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  voice  appeared  to  pro¬ 
ceed,  sometimes  out  of  her  body,  and  sometimes 
out  of  the  ground. 

4.  The  Pythian  orgies  were  celebrated  every 
seventh  day,  like  the  Jewish  Sabbath  ;  and  every 
seventh  year,  a  grand  festival,  corresponding  to 
the  jubilee  celebration  of  the  Jews,  was  observed 
with  great  pomp.  At  this  festival,  the  psean  or 
song  of  victory  was  chaunted ;  this  anthem  com- 


48 


ORACLES  OP  THB  HEATHEN. 


menced  and  closed  with  the,  formula,  “  Elleleu 
ia,”  from  which  circumstance,  Apollo,  (the  Py¬ 
thian  idol,)  was  also  called  Elelleus  and  Ia'ios. 
This  evidently  was  an  imitation  of  the  solemn 
Hallelujahs  with  which  the  God  of  the  Hebrews 
was  worshipped  before  the  tabernacle  at  Shiloh, 
on  each  returning  Sabbath  and  Sabbatical  year. 

The  introduction  of  these  rites  into  the  worship 
of  the  Delphian  idol,  may  be  accounted  for  in  the 
following  way.  Some  of  the  Phoenicians  or 
Canaanites,  who  had  been  spectators  at  the  Jew¬ 
ish  worship,  (Josh.  ix.  29,)  or  had,  like  the 
Gibeonites,  embraced  it,  were  persecuted  as  Jews 
by  the  enemies  of  the  Hebrews,  and  in  order  to 
escape  from  their  cruelties,  passed  over  into 
Greece  with  a  number  of  their  countrymen,  and 
having  built  the  temple  of  Delphi  in  the  province 
of  Phocis,  combined  with  their  idolatrous  rites, 
some  of  the  ceremonies  and  institutions  of  the  true 
worship,  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  ob¬ 
serve  among  the  Jews.  This  temple  thus  became 
the  tabernacle  of  Satan,  and  “a  breathing  hole  of 
hell.” 


PRIESTS,  SACRIFICES,  CEREMONIES,  &C.  49 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PRIESTS,  SACRIFICES,  CEREMONIES,  &C.,  OF  THE 

HEATHEN. 

The  power  of  the  priests  over  the  minds  and 
consciences  of  the  common  people  was  very  great. 
Of  this  fact,  the  idolatrous  Jeroboam  was  well 
aware ;  indeed  he  could  nof  have  devised  a  more 
effectual  means  for  sustaining  the  worship  of  the 
golden  calves,  than  by  appointing  priests  for  this 
special  service.  “  He  made  a  house  of  high 
places,  and  made  priests  of  the  lowest  of  the  peo¬ 
ple,  which  were  not  of  the  sons  of  Levi.  And 
Jeroboam  ordained  a  feast  in  the  eighth  month, 
on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month,  like  unto  the 
feast  that  is  in  Judah  ;  and  he  offered  upon  the 
altar,  (so  did  he  in  Bethel,)  sacrificing  unto 
the  calves  that  he  had  made :  and  he  placed  in 
Bethel  the  priests  of  the  high  places  which  he  had 
e 


50  PRIESTS,  SACRIFICES,  CEREMONIES,  &C. 

made.”  (1  Kings,  xii.  31,  32.)  These  men  greatly 
hindered  the  prophets  of  the  Lord.  When  Amos- 
prophesied  against  Jeroboam  and  Israel,  and  show¬ 
ed  them  what  the  consequences  of  their  departure 
from  God  would  be,  the  priest  of  Bethel,  Ama- 
ziah,  sent  and  contradicted  him.  (Amos,  vii.  10- 
13.)  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  principal 
opponents  of  Elijah  were  uniformly,  the  priests  of 
Baal ;  the  prophet  at  length,  however,  succeeded 
in  having  these  wicked  men  destroyed.  The  cir¬ 
cumstances  are  detailed  at  length  in  1  Kings, 
chapter  xviii.  Under  the  New  Testament  dis¬ 
pensation,  the  Apostles  suffered  most  of  the  perse¬ 
cutions  which  they  endured,  at  the  instigation  of 
the  idolatrous  priests. 

The  frequent  sacrifices  of  animals,  fruits,  vege¬ 
tables,  &c.,  were  powerful  instruments  in  the 
hands  of  Satan  in  promoting  idolatry,  especially 
when,  as  “  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,”  (Eph. 
ii.  2,)  he  caused  fire  to  fall  upon  the  offerings  and 
consume  them,  as  in  the  instance  recorded  in 
Job  i.  16.  “  While  he  was  yet  speaking,  there 

came  also  another,  and  said,  the  fire  of  God  is 
fallen  from  heaven,  and  hath  burnt  up  the  sheep. 


OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


51 


and  the  servants,  and  consumed  them  ;  and  I  only 
am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee.”  It  is  true,  the  fire 
is  called  “  the  fire  of  God,”  but  it  will  be  borne  in 
mind,  that  in  a  verse  preceding  this,  the  Lord 
had  said  to  Satan,  “  Behold,  all  that  he  hath  is  in 
thy  power ;  only  upon  himself  put  not  forth  thy 
hand.  So  Satan  went  forth  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord.”  This  plainly  intimates  that  the  ca¬ 
lamity  was  occasioned  through  the  agency  of 
Satan. 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  this  power  was 
often  exercised,  in  order  to  confirm  the  apostate 
Israelites  in  their  rebellion  ;  for  we  find  that  the 
priests  of  Baal  readily  accepted  the  challenge  of 
Elijah,  and  were  at  once  prepared  to  decide 
whether  Jehovah,  (1  Kings,  xviii.  24,)  or  Baal 
were  God,  by  this  simple  test.  On  this  occasion, 
the  devil  was  deprived  of  a  license,  which  had 
been  permitted  him  at  other  times.  It  must  be 
admitted,  however,  that  deceptive  arts  were  freely 
practised,  and  that  the  sacrifices  were  probably 
more  frequently  consumed  by  fire,  which  the 
priests  themselves  secretly  kindled,  than  by 
flames  lighted  by  the  breath  of  Satan ;  the  object 


52  PRIESTS,  SACRIFICES,  CEREMONIES,  &C. 

being  always  attained,  provided  the  prejudices  of 
the  people  in  favour  of  idolatry  were  strengthen¬ 
ed.  Fire  from  the  Lord  always  consumed  the 
sacrifices  laid  upon  his  altars,  and  as  every  thing 
pertaining  to  a  feast  was  freely  brought  to  them, 
such  as  bread,  flesh,  salt,  wine,  cakes,  incense, 
&c.,  these  oblations  were  frequently  called  “  the 
bread  of  God.”  Speaking  of  the  priests  of  the 
Lord,  Moses  says,  “  The  offerings  of  the  Lord 
made  by  fire,  and  the  bread  of  their  God  they  do 
offer,” — “  thou  shalt  sanctify  him  therefore  ;  for 
he  offereth  the  bread  of  thy  God,  he  shall  be  holy 
unto  thee,”  &c.  (Lev.  xxi.  6,  8, 17,22.)  Again — 
“  Neither  from  a  stranger’s  hand  shall  ye  offer 
the  bread  of  your  God.”  (Lev.  xxii.  25.)  This 
latter  command  Ezekiel  upbraids  Israel  with  hav¬ 
ing  transgressed — “  Ye  have  brought  into  my 
sanctuary  strangers,  uncircumcised  in  heart,  and 
uncircumcised  in  flesh,  to  be  in  my  sanctuary,  to 
pollute  it,  even  my  house,  when  ye  offer  my 
bread”  &c.  (Ezek.  xliv.  7  ;  Conf.  Mai.  i.  7 ;  Ps. 
1.  10;  Is.  xlvi.  16.)  The  oblations  are  also  called 
“  the  offering  made  by  fire.”  (Numb,  xxviii.  2.) 
Hence,  the  heathen  supposed  that  their  imaginary 


OP  THE  HEATHEN. 


53 


deities  devoured  the  sacrifices ;  that  they  held 
regular  feasts,  regaled  themselves  with  the  in¬ 
cense  offered  to  them,  and  sucked  up  the  blood 
of  the  slain  bullocks  like  flies.  The  fat  and 
choice  pieces  were  laid  on  the  altars  of  Jehovah, 
but  the  idol-gods  received  only  the  offals,  such  as 
the  gall,  the  bones,  &c.,  whilst  the  priests  or 
worshippers  retained  all  that  was  worth  having ; 
and  thus  the  devil  was  disgraced  even  in  the 
honours  paid  him.  Among  the  various  rites 
which  were  borrowed  by  idolaters  from  the  Jew¬ 
ish  institutions,  was  that  of  circumcision.  This 
was  practised  extensively  by  the  Egyptians 
and  Moors,  and  was  through  them  introduced 
among  many  other  nations,  and  used  as  an 
initiatory  ceremony.  The  Sabbath  was  also 
counterfeited,  as  is  evident  from  the  many  festi¬ 
vals  which  were  celebrated  every  seventh  day. 
The  institution  of  cities  of  refuge,  appointed  un¬ 
der  the  Levitical  law,  was  also  borrowed  by  the 
heathen.  These  cities  of  refuge  were  intended 
by  the  Lord  as  an  asylum  for  those  who  should 
-undesignedly  kill  any  one.  In  the  East,  from 
time  immemorial,  the  punishment  of  murder  or 

e  2 


54  PRIESTS,  SACRIFICES,  CEREMONIES,  &C. 

manslaughter  has  been,  to  a  great  extent,  a  mat¬ 
ter  not  so  much  of  public  justice  as  of  private  re¬ 
venge,  and  the  mercy  of  this  institution  will  at 
once  be  apparent,  when  it  is  remembered  how 
blood-thirsty  the  relatives  of  one  who  had  met 
with  a  violent  death  always  were.  The  refugees 
were  safe  in  these  cities.  There  were  three  such 
towns  on  each  side  of  Jordan :  “  If  a  man  lie  not 
in  wait,  but  God  deliver  him  into  his  hand,  then 
I  will  appoint  thee  a  place  whither  he  shall  flee.” 
(Ex.  xxi.  13.)  “  Ye  shall  appoint  you  cities  to 

be  cities  of  refuge  for  you  ;  that  the  slayer  may 
flee  thither,  which  killeth  any  person  at  una¬ 
wares.  And  they  shall  be  unto  you  cities  of  re¬ 
fuge  from  the  avenger ;  that  the  man-slayer  die 
not,  until  lie  stand  before  the  congregation  in 
judgment.  And  of  these  cities  which  shall  give, 
six  cities  shall  ye  have  for  refuge.  Ye  shall  give 
three  cities  on  this  side  Jordan,  and  three  cities 
shall  ye  give  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  shall 
be  cities  of  refuge.”  (Numb.  xxxv.  11-15.) 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


55 


CHAPTER  IX. 

MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  trace  many  of  the  tradi¬ 
tions  of  the  heathen  to  their  true  origin,  and  we 
will  therefore  devote  a  few  pages  to  draw  a  paral¬ 
lel  between  facts  stated  in  the  Bible  and  the  per¬ 
verted  stories  of  heathen  mythology.  Owing  to 
their  proximity  to,  and  their  frequent  intercourse 
with  the  Jews,  the  Phoenicians  had  acquired  some 
knowledge  of  the  true  God  and  his  worship,  and 
either  had  a  confused  recollection  of  accounts  of 
certain  miracles,  which  the  Lord  had  performed, 
or  else  purposely  misrepresented  the  statements 
they  had  heard,  and  mingled  with  them  inven¬ 
tions  of  their  own.  The  Greeks  and  Romans 
borrowed  their  mythology  from  the  Phoenicians, 
and  the  garbled  histories  of  the  latter  were  still 
further  corrupted  by  the  nations  whom  they  had 
instructed. 


56 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


That  the  heathen  had  some  knowledge  of  the 
creation — of  the  state  of  pristine  purity — of  the 
fall  of  man — and  of  the  deluge,  is  evident  from 
the  writings  of  some  of  their  poets  and  philoso¬ 
phers  ;  and  we  shall  therefore  leave  these  general 
facts,  and  collate  a  few  histories  of  fictitious  per¬ 
sonages  with  the  accounts  which  the  Bible  fur¬ 
nishes  of  the  original  characters,  from  which  the 
traditions  were  borrowed :  e.  g.  The  story  of 
Saturn  was  briefly  this.  It  was  said  of  him  that 
he  was  the  son  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  that  he 
married  his  sister,  and  became  the  father  of  the 
human  race ;  that  he  usurped  his  father’s  throne, 
and  devoured  his  children.  This  may  all  be 
traced  to  the  history  of  Adam.  He  derived  his 
origin  from  Heaven  and  Earth — was  married  to 
Eve,  who  was  “  bone  of  his  bone  and  flesh  of  his 
flesh is  the  common  parent  of  mankind — af¬ 
fected  to  be  equal  with  God,  and  by  this  rebellion 
brought  ruin  and  wo  upon  his  whole  posterity. 
The  fable  of  Pandora  was,  that  the  gods  had 
intrusted  to  her  a  box,  in  which  all  the  miseries 
which  afflict  the  human  race  were  locked  up, 
with  a  strict  charge  not  to  open  it ;  but  that  she, 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN 


57 


SATURN. 


disregarding  their  injunction,  and  unable  to  re¬ 
strain  her  curiosity,  had  taken  off  the  lid,  and 
thus  suffered  all  the  ills  of  life  to  escape — sweet¬ 
ened,  however,  by  hope,  which  still  remained  to 
comfort  mankind.  It  is  almost  unnecessary  to 
remark  that  Eve  is  the  original  of  which  Pandora 


58 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


is  the  copy.  Jubal,  the  inventor  of  music  is  the 
Apollo,  and  Tubal-Cain,  the  Vulcan,  of  my¬ 
thology.  Noah  was  known  to  the  heathen  under 
various  names.  He  is  called  Saturn.  This 
deity  was  worshipped  as  the  father  of  mankind, 
and  was  said  to  have  been  the  first  who  planted 
the  vine.  The  period  during  which  he  reigned 
was  known  as  the  Golden  Age,  because  all  men 
were  then  united  by  the  bands  of  brotherly  love. 
The  story  of  Saturn’s  having  devoured  all  his 
children,  excepting  Jupiter,  Neptune,  and  Pluto, 
with  whom  he  crossed  the  sea  in  safety,  relates 
no  doubt  to  the  deluge,  which  overwhelmed  the 
human  race,  with  the  exception  of  Noah  and  his 
three  sons  and  their  families. 

Janus  was  another  name  given  to  Noah,  from 
the  Hebrew  word  Jajin,  meaning  wine.  (“  Noah 
began  to  be  a  husbandman  and  planted  a  vine¬ 
yard.”  Gen.  ix.  24.)  Janus  was  further  honour¬ 
ed  by  the  heathen,  as  presiding  over  covenants. 
This  probably  originated  in  the  covenant,  which 
God  made  with  Noah :  “  And,  behold,  I  establish 
my  covenant  with  you,  and  with  your  seed  after 
you;  and  with  every  living  creature  that  is  with 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


59 


you,  of  the  fowl,  of  the  cattle,  and  of  every  beast 
of  the  earth  with  you ;  from  all  that  go  out  of  the 
ark  to  every  beast  of  the  earth.  I  will  establish 
my  covenant  with  you ;  neither  shall  all  flesh  be 
cut  off  any  more  by  the  waters  of  a  flood  ;  neither 
shall  there  any  more  be  a  flood  to  destroy  the 
earth.  And  God  said,  this  is  the  token  of  the 
covenant  which  I  make  between  me  and  you,  and 
every  living  creature  that  is  with  you,  for  per¬ 
petual  generations :  1  do  set  my  bow  in  the  cloud, 
and  it  shall  be  for  a  token  of  a  covenant  between 
me  and  the  earth.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
when  I  bring  a  cloud  over  the  earth,  that  the  bow 
shall  be  seen  in  the  cloud :  and  I  will  remember 
my  covenant,  which  is  between  me  and  you  and 
every  living  creature  of  all  flesh ;  and  the  waters 
shall  no  more  become  a  flood  to  destroy  all  flesh. 
And  the  bows  shall  be  in  the  cloud ;  and  I  will 
look  upon  it,  that  I  may  remember  the  everlast¬ 
ing  covenant  between  God  and  every  living  crea¬ 
ture  of  all  flesh  that  is  upon  the  earth.”  (Gen.  ix. 
9-16.) 

Janus  was  also  worshipped  as  the  restorer  of 
the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  as  presiding  over 


60 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


agriculture,  ships,  and  navigation.  He  was  re- 
presented  with  two  faces,  referring  to  Noah’s 
knowledge  of  the  times  before  and  after  the  flood. 
Deucalion,  Ogyges,  Xisuthrus,  Prometheus,  Bac¬ 
chus,  &c.,  were  the  names  either  of  imaginary 
characters,  or  of  real  personages,  portions  of 
whose  history  were  derived  from  that  of  Noah. 
Japhet,  Shem,  and  Ham,  were  the  three  sons  of 
Noah. 

Japhet  was  the  Neptune  of  the  ancients.  This* 
deity  had  dominion  over  the  sea.  We  read,  (Gen., 
x.  5,)  of  the  sons  of  Japhet :  44  By  these  were  the 
isles  of  the  Gentiles  divided  in  their  lands  ;  every 
one  after  his  tongue,  after  their  families,  in  their 
nations.” 

The  history  of  Shem,  distinguished  for  his  love 
to  God,  furnished  the  mythology  of  the  heathen 
with  the  story  of  Pluto,  who  being  hated  by  his  bro¬ 
thers  on  account  of  his  piety,  was  made  the  God 
of  the  infernal  regions.  Ham  is  the  Jupiter-Am- 
mon  of  the  Egyptians.  Egypt  is  called  the  land 
of  Ham. 

The  anointed  pillar,  which  the  patriarch  Jacob 
set  up  at  Bethel,  in  commemoration  of  the  remark- 


MYTHOLOGY  OP  THE  HEATHEN. 


61 


able  manifestation  of  the  divine  presence  which 
he  there  enjoyed,  may  have  given  rise  to  the 
Betylia,  which  were  rude  monuments  of  stone, 
erected  by  the  heathen  in  honour  of  the  pretended 
apparitions  of  their  gods.  Jacob  was  on  his  way 
from  Beersheba  to  Haran,  or  Charran,  situated 
in  the  north-western  part  of  Mesopotamia,  on  a 
river  of  the  same  name,  running  into  the  Eu¬ 
phrates.  He  had  undertaken  this  journey  at  the 
instance  of  his  parents,  who  were  fearful  that 
he  might  choose  a  partner  for  life  from  among 
the  daughters  of  Heth,  who  were  idolaters.  Re¬ 
becca  had  another  reason  for  urging  him  to 
take  this  journey.  Jacob  had  supplanted  his 
brother,  and  had  obtained  by  fraud  the  bless¬ 
ing  designed  for  Esau,  and  she  knowing  the  vio¬ 
lence  of  her  eldest  son’s  temper,  was  extremely 
solicitous  to  have  Jacob  stay  away  from  home  for 
a  season,  to  give  his  brother’s  fury  time  to  turn 
away.  “  And  he  lighted  upon  a  certain  place, 
and  tarried  there  all  night,  because  the  sun  was 
set :  and  he  took  of  the  stones  of  that  place,  and 
put  them  for  his  pillows,  and  lay  down  in  that 
place  to  sleep.  And  he  dreamed,  and  behold  a 


F 


62 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


ladder  set  up  on  the  earth,  and  the  top  of  it  reach¬ 
ed  to  heaven  :  and  behold  the  angels  of  God  as¬ 
cending  and  descending  on  it.  And,  behold,  the 
Lord  stood  above  it,  and  said,  I  am  the  Lord  God 
of  Abraham  thy  father,  and  the  God  of  Isaac : 
the  land  whereon  thou  best,  to  thee  will  I  give  it, 
and  to  thy  seed  :  and  thy  seed  shall  be  as  the  dust 
of  the  earth :  and  thou  shalt  spread  abroad  to  the 
west,  and  to  the  east,  and  to  the  north,  and  to 
the  south :  and  in  thee,  and  in  thy  seed,  shall 
all  the  families  of  the  east  be  blessed.  And, 
behold,  I  am  with  thee,  and  will  keep  thee  in 
all  places  whither  thou  goest,  and  will  bring  thee 
again  into  this  land :  for  I  will  not  leave  thee 
till  I  have  done  that  which  I  have  spoken  to  thee 
of.  And  Jacob  awaked  out  of  his  sleep,  and  he 
said,  surely  the  Lord  is  in  this  place,  and  I  knew 
it  not.  And  he  was  afraid,  and  said,  how  dread¬ 
ful  is  this  place  !  This  is  none  other  but  the  house 
of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven.  And  Ja¬ 
cob  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  took  the 
stone  he  had  put  for  his  pillows,  and  set  it  up  for 
a  pillar  and  poured  oil  upon  the  top  of  it.  And 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


63 


lie  called  the  name  of  that  place  Bethel,”  i.  e. 
God’s  house. 

How  sublime  was  that  simple  transaction ! 
how  solemn  was  that  hour  !  Jacob  was  alone  in 
a  land  of  idolaters,  and  the  first  altar  that  had 
ever  been  built  there  to  the  honour  of  Jehovah, 
was  that  rude  pile  of  stones,  upon  which  he 
poured  his  libation !  The  first  prayer  that  had 
ever  been  offered  in  that  region  by  mortal  lips  to 
the  God  of  heaven,  was  that  which  came  up  from 
Jacob’s  heart,  and  the  first  pledge  of  entire  conse¬ 
cration  to  the  Lord’s  service,  which  had  ever  been 
heard  in  that  land,  was  Jacob’s  vow,  “  The  Lord 
shall  be  my  God.” 


64 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


CHAPTER  X. 

MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 

Joshua,  the  renowned  captain  of  the  Israelites, 
is  the  far-famed  Apollo  of  the  Greeks.  “  And 
they  had  a  king  over  them,  which  is  the  angel  of 
the  bottomless  pit,  whose  name  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue  is  Abaddon,  but  in  the  Greek  tongue  hath 
his  name  Apollyon,”  (Rev.  ix.  11,)  i.  e.  a  de¬ 
stroyer ,  so  called  from  his  having  slain  the 
giant  Typhon,  &c.,  &c.,  the  parallel  to  which  is 
found  in  Joshua’s  expelling  the  Canaanites.  This 
Apollo  presided  over  the  Delphian  oracle.  The 
story  of  his  conquering  the  giant  Typhon,  who 
had  an  enormous  bedstead,  finds  an  immediate 
parallel  in  the  history  and  name  of  Og  of  Bashan, 
of  whose  iron  bedstead  we  have  an  account, 
(Deut.  iii.  11,)  in  these  words :  “For  only  Og, 
king  of  Bashan,  remained  of  the  remnant  of  the 
giants ;  behold,  his  bedstead  was  a  bedstead  of 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


65 


iron ;  is  it  not  in  Rabbath  of  the  children  of  Am¬ 
mon  ?  Nine  cubits  was  the  length  thereof,  and 
four  cubits  the  breadth  of  it,  after  the  cubit  of  a 
man.”  Now  the  word  Og,  in  Hebrew,  signifies 
to  boil  or  burn,  and  is  synonymous  with  the 
Greek  typho ,  which  means  to  kindle  or  burn.  In 
this  way,  Og  is  called  Typhon,  or,  by  transposi¬ 
tion,  Python.  Apollo,  after  his  victory  over  the 
Pythian  giant,  instituted  the  Pythian  oracle; 
and  Joshua,  having  slain  Og  on  the  borders  of 
the  promised  land,  set  up  the  tabernacle  at  Shi¬ 
loh. 

The  story  of  Hercules’  having  destroyed  the 
giants,  with  the  assistance  of  Jove,  who  hurled 
stones  upon  them  from  heaven,  may  have  origi¬ 
nated  in  Joshua’s  contests  with  the  Canaanites ; 
for  we  read,  that  after  the  confederate  kings  of 
the  Ammonites  had  been  discomfited  before  Israel, 
“  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  fled  from  before  Israel, 
and  were  in  the  going  down  to  Beth-horon,  that 
the  Lord  cast,  down  great  stones  from  heaven 
upon  them  unto  Azekah,  and  they  died ;  they 
were  more  which  died  with  hail-stones  than  they 

f  2 


66 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


whom  the  children  of  Israel  slew  with  the  sword.” 
(Josh.  x.  11.) 

Again :  the  giants  were  represented  as  having 
been  greatly  terrified  at  the  news  of  Hercules’s 
coming,  and  the  same  remark  is  made  concern¬ 
ing  the  Canaanites  and  Joshua.  The  harlot  Ra- 
hab  tells  the  spies  whom  Joshua  had  sent  out, 
“  I  know  that  the  Lord  hath  given  you  the  land, 
and  that  your  terror  is  fallen  upon  us,  and  that 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  faint  because  of 
you.”  (Josh.  ii.  9.) 

The  exploits  and  character  of  Samson  corres¬ 
pond  in  many  respects  with  the  accounts  pre¬ 
served  in  mythology,  concerning  Hercules,  e.  g. 
It  was  related  of  this  hero  that  he  killed  the 
famous  Nemean  lion ;  a  similar  exploit  is  record¬ 
ed  of  Samson :  “  Then  went  Samson  down,  and 
his  father  and  mother  to  Timnath,  and  came  to 
the  vineyards  of  Timnath :  and  behold  a  young 
lion  roared  against  him,  and  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  came  mightily  upon  him,  and  he  rent  him 
as  he  would  have  rent  a  kid,  and  he  had  nothing 
in  his  hands,”  &c.  (Judges,  xiv.  5,  6.) 

Another  point  of  similarity  is,  the  inordinate 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


67 


7 


lust  of  Samson,  which  eventually  made  him  the 
slave  of  Delilah  and  the  Philistines ;  just  as  Her¬ 
cules  became,  for  similar  reasons,  the  slave  of 
Omphale.  (Judges,  xvi.)  The  club  of  Hercules 
is  Samson’s  jaw-bone  of  the  ass,  with  which  he 
slew  the  Philistines.  (Judges,  xv.  14-16.)  The 
centaurs,  hydras,  and  other  monsters,  which  Her¬ 
cules  overcame,  are  the  Philistines  slain  by  Sam¬ 
son.  The  tradition  of  Hercules’  burning  himself 
on  Mount  Oeta,  refers  to  the  voluntary  death  of 
Samson,  of  which  we  read  in  Judges,  xvi.  The 
Philistines  had  got  Samson  into  their  power, 
through  the  artifices  of  Delilah,  and  having  de¬ 
termined  upon  making  a  great  feast  to  their  god, 
Dagon,  they  sent  for  Samson  ;  and  when  the  peo¬ 
ple  saw  him  they  praised  their  god,  as  though 
their  idol  had  delivered  their  great  enemy  into 
their  power.  Samson’s  eyes  had  been  put  out, 
and  now  he  was  brought  before  them,  in  order 
that  they  might  mock  his  misery.  There  was  a 
very  great  concourse  of  people  on  the  occasion. 
The  house  was  crowded  in  the  inside,  and  the 
roof  was  also  filled  with  spectators :  about  three 
thousand  men,  women,  and  children  were  gazing 


68 


MYTHOLOGY  OF  THE  HEATHEN. 


upon  Samson  as  he  made  sport.  He  requested 
the  boy  who  led  him,  to  take  him  to  the  pillars 
which  supported  the  house,  that  he  might  lean 
against  them.  The  lad  did  as  desired,  and  Sam¬ 
son  having  prayed  to  God  to  strengthen  him  only 
this  once,  took  hold  of  the  pillars,  one  with  his 
right  hand,  the  other  with  his  left,  and  bowed  him¬ 
self  with  all  his  might — “  and  the  house  fell  upon 
the  lords  and  upon  all  the  people  that  were 
therein ;  so  the  dead  which  he  slew  at  his  death, 
were  more  than  they  which  he  slew  in  his  life.” 
(Judges,  xvi.) 


THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CHALD.EAXS.  69 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CHALDEANS. 

The  origin  of  idolatry  has  been  traced  to  the 
time  of  Nimrod,  and  as  already  stated,  the  Chal- 
daeans  were  the  first  who  practised  the  abomina¬ 
ble  rites,  which  were  so  readily  imitated  by  sur¬ 
rounding  nations.  Their  principal  god  was  Bel  us 
or  Baal ;  called  Zeus  by  the  Greeks,  and  Jupiter 
by  the  Latins.  Hence  the  name  Jupiter-Belus. 
The  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  contracted  the 
appellation  into  Bel.  It  was  a  common  thing  for 
them  to  give  the  name  of  this  idol  to  distinguished 
men,  e.  g.  Daniel  was  called  Bel-teshazzar,  (Dan. 
iv.  19;)  Gideon  was  surnamed  Jerub-baal,  (Judges, 
vi.  32  ;)  and  also  Jerub-boschet ;  the  latter  termi¬ 
nation,  “  boschet ,”  meaning  “  abominable,”  was 
used,  (2  Sam.  xi.  21,)  as  a  term  of  reproach  to 
Baal.  In  the  same  way  we  account  for  the  va¬ 
riations  in  the  names  of  Esbaal,  called  also  Isch- 


70  THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CHALDEANS. 

boschet,  and  Meribbaal,  known  also  by  the  ap¬ 
pellation  of  Mephiboschet.  (2  Sam.  ii.  8,  and  iv. 
4.)  The  Phcenicians  also  used  Baal  as  a  sur¬ 
name  :  thus  we  read  of  Ethbaal  or  Ithobalus. 
(1  Kings,  xvi.  31.)  Such  names  as  Hannibal, 
(the  grace  of  God,)  Asdrubal,  (the  help  of  God,) 
Adherbal,  (the  glory  of  God,)  &c.,  were  com¬ 
mon  among  the  Carthaginians ;  and  we  find  the 
name  Belenus  even  among  the  ancient  Gauls. 
Thus  we  see  that  Bel  or  Baal,  (meaning  Lord,) 
was  worshipped  by  almost  every  idolatrous  na¬ 
tion.  Originally,  this  idol  represented  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  the  sun,  which  rules  the  day, 
(Gen.  i.  6,)  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  we  so 
frequently  find  Baal  associated  in  Scripture  with 
Ashtaroth,  or  the  moon,  and  also  with  the  whole 
host  of  heavenly  bodies;  e.  g.  “And  they  forsook 
the  Lord,  and  they  served  Baal  and  Ashtaroth,” 
(Judges,  ii.  13;)  and  again — “The  children  of 
Israel  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  served 
Baal  and  Ashtaroth,  and  the  gods  of  Syria,  and  the 
gods  of  Zidon,  and  the  gods  ofMoab,”  &c.  (Judges, 
x.  6.)  And  when  the  reformation  brought  about 
by  good  King  Josiah  is  spoken  of,  we  read,  “  The 


THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CIIALD.EANS.  71 


king  commanded  Hilkiah  the  high-priest,  and 
the  priests  of  the  second  order,  and  the  keepers 
of  the  door,  to  bring  forth  out  of  the  temple  of  the 
Lord,  all  the  vessels  that  were  made  for  Baal, 
and  for  the  grove,  and  for  all  the  host  of  heaven ; 
and  he  burnt  them  without  Jerusalem,  in  the 
fields  of  Kidron,  and  carried  the  ashes  of  them 
to  Bethel.”  (2  Kings,  xxiii.  4.) 

This  false  god  was  worshipped  by  the  Palmy- 
rians,  under  the  name  of  Aglibelus,  i.  e.  “  He 
who  discovers  or  enlightens,”  as  the  sun  with  his 
beams ;  or  Malacbelus,  i.  e.  king  of  the  stars. 

Nimrod,  who  is  mentioned  as  having  been  a 
mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord,  (Gen.  x.  8,  9,) 
the  founder  of  the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  mo¬ 
narchy,  was  surnamed  Belus  or  Lord ;  after  his 
death,  his  memory  was  greatly  venerated  in  As¬ 
syria  and  Babylon,  and  at  length  he  was  wor¬ 
shipped  as  the  god  Bel,  and  idols  of  a  peculiar 
form  were  set  up  as  his  images.  To  this  Isaiah 
refers,  (xlvi.  1,  2,)  “Bel  boweth  down,  Nebo 
stoopeth ;  their  idols  were  upon  the  beasts,  and 
upon  the  cattle :  your  carriages  were  heavy 
loaden ;  they  are  a  burden  to  the  weary  beast. 


72  THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CHALDA3ANS. 

They  stoop :  they  bow  down  together ;  they  could 
not  deliver  the  burden,  but  themselves  have  gone 
into  captivity.”  God  threatens  to  overthrow  the 
idols — “  Declare  ye  among  the  nations,  and  pub¬ 
lish  and  set  up  a  standard ;  publish  and  conceal 
not ;  say,  Babylon  is  taken,  Bel  is  confounded, 
Merodach  is  broken  to  pieces ;  her  idols  are  con¬ 
founded,  her  images  are  broken  in  pieces.”  (Jer- 
1.  2.)  And  again — “  I  will  punish  Bel  in  Baby¬ 
lon  ;  and  I  will  bring  forth  out  of  his  mouth  that 
which  he  hath  swallowed  up,  and  the  nations  shall 
not  flow  together  any  more  unto  him  ;  yea,  the 
wall  of  Babylon  shall  fall.”  (Jer.  li.  44.) 

The  temple  of  Bel  in  Babylon  was  most  mag¬ 
nificent.  It  had  the  appearance  as  though  eight 
towers  were  built,  one  on  top  of  the  other.  Each 
of  these  towers  was  fifty  feet  high,  so  that  the 
whole  height  of  the  temple  was  four  hundred 
feet  or  one  stadium.  The  foundation  covered  an 
area  of  four  stadia  square,  or  sixteen  hundred 
feet  on  each  of  the  sides.  An  account  is  given  of 
the  commencement  of  this  tower  in  Gen.  xi.  2,  3. 
The  builders  presumed  that  they  could  erect  a 
tower  whose  top  should  reach  heaven,  but  God,. 


Tower  of  Baheh 


THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CHALD  JEANS.  73 


to  show  them  how  vain  it  is  “  to  build  the  wall” 
without  him,  confounded  their  language,  and  scat¬ 
tered  them  abroad  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth.” 
Upon  the  summit  of  this  temple  or  tower  was  an 
observatory,  from  which  the  Babylonians  made 
their  astronomical  calculations.  They  had  at¬ 
tained  such  a  knowledge  of  the  science  of  astro¬ 
nomy,  that  when  Alexander  the  Great  took 
possession  of  Babylon,  he  found  observations 
made  by  them,  extending  as  far  back  as  1903 
years.  Their  calculation  reached  to  114  years 
after  the  deluge,  and  to  the  fourth  year  after  the 
building  of  the  tower  at  Babel.  This  temple  of 
Jupiter-Belus,  Nebuchadnezzar  enlarged  by  build¬ 
ing  edifices  on  each  side,  to  the  extent  of  two 
stadia ;  so  that  its  whole  circumference  was 
twelve  stadia,  or  4800  feet,  1800  feet  more 
than  that  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  which  was 
3000  feet.  This  immense  pile  was  enclosed  by 
a  high  wall,  in  which  at  convenient  distances, 
were  gates  of  fine  brass.  It  is  probable  that  Ne- 
buchadnezzar  used  the  brazen  vessels  taken  from 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  in  the  construction  of 
these  gates.  (Dan.  i.  2 ;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  7.) 

G 


74  THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CHALDEANS. 

Xerxes  upon  returning  from  his  expedition 
into  Greece,  razed  this  edifice  to  the  ground,  and 
left  it  a  heap  of  ruins,  after  plundering  the  temple 
of  its  immense  riches,  among  which  were  many 
images  and  statues  of  solid  gold.  One  of  these 
is  particularly  mentioned  by  Diodorus  Siculus,  as 
having  been  forty  feet  high,  and  is  probably  the 
image  which  Nebuchadnezzar  set  up  in  the  plain 
of  Dura,  which  is  represented  in  Scripture,  how¬ 
ever,  to  have  been  ninety  feet  high.  (Dan.  iii.  1.) 
The  difficulty  in  reconciling  the  discrepancy  in 
these  statements,  is  by  no  means  formidable. 
The  Scriptural  accounts  speak  of  the  height  of 
the  whole  statue,  including  the  pedestal,  whilst 
the  heathen  historian  refers  only  to  the  image ; 
for  it  is  farther  stated,  that  it  was  six  cubits  broad. 
(Dan.  iii.  1.)  Now,  if  the  height  of  the  image 
alone  had  been  sixty  cubits,  (or  ninety  feet,)  i.  e. 
ten  times  longer  than  broad,  it  would  have  been 
out  of  all  proportion ;  as  in  no  instance  is  the 
height  of  the  human  form  more  than  six  times  its 
breadth. 

Upon  the  return  of  Alexander  the  Great  to 
Babylon,  subsequent  to  his  Jewish  expedition,  he 


THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CHALD JEANS.  75 


was  anxious  to  rebuild  this  temple,  and  left  for 
this  purpose  10,000  men,  who  required  two 
months  to  remove  the  old  rubbish.  After  this 
had  been,  with  great  labour,  effected,  the  further 
progress  of  the  work  was  arrested  by  the  sudden 
death  of  Alexander. 

In  connexion  with  the  account  of  the  image 
before  alluded  to,  we  find  an  interesting  narrative 
of  the  constancy  of  three  of  the  children  of  God, 
whom  neither  threats  nor  entreaties  could  induce 
to  bow  down  to  it,  and  worship  like  the  idolatrous 
multitude  around  them.  The  haughty  king  of 
Babylon  had  made  a  decree,  that,  whoever  re¬ 
fused,  at  the  sound  of  sackbut,  psaltery,  and  harp, 
to  bow  down  to  the  great  image  which  he  had 
set  up,  should  be  cast  into  the  midst  of  a  burning 
fiery  furnace,  and  when  news  was  brought  him 
that  the  three  Jews,  whom  he  had  set  over  the 
affairs  of  Babylon,  presumed  to  disobey  his  man¬ 
date,  he  ordered  them  to  be  brought  before  him. 
They  were  brought,  and  Nebuchadnezzar  asks — 
“  Is  it  true,  O  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abedne- 
go  ?  Do  not  ye  serve  my  gods,  nor  worship  the 
golden  image  which  I  have  set  up  ?  Now,  if  ye  be 


76  THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CHALDEE  AIN'S* 

ready,  that  at  what  time  ye  hear  the  sound  of  the 
cornet,  flute,  harp,  sackbut,  psaltery,  and  dulci¬ 
mer,  and  all  kinds  of  music,  ye  fall  down  and 
worship  the  image,  which  I  have  made,  well ; 
but  if  ye  worship  not ,  ye  shall  be  cast  the  same 
hour,  into  the  midst  of  a  burning  fiery  furnace ; 
and  who  is  that  god  that  shall  deliver  you  out  of 
my  hands?”  But  they  were  not  to  be  cajoled  by 
promises  nor  terrified  by  threats,  into  disobe¬ 
dience  of  the  command  given  to  them  by  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  “  Thou  shalt  have  none  other 
gods  before  me.”  They  refused  to  worship  the 
king’s  golden  image,  telling  Nebuchadnezzar, 
that  if  their  God  saw  fit,  he  was  well  able  to  de¬ 
liver  them  out  of  the  furnace,  and  if  such  was  not 
the  Lord’s  pleasure,  they  would  rather  be  burnt 
up,  than  violate  the  law  of  their  God.  This  an¬ 
swer  threw  the  vindictive  monarch  into  a  greater 
rage  than  ever ;  and  full  of  fury,  he  gave  orders 
to  have  the  furnace  seven  times  more  than  it  was 
wont  to  be  heated,  and  commanded  his'  mightiest 
men  to  take  these  three  Jews  and  throw  them 
into  the  fire.  It  was  done — Shadrach,  Meshach, 
and  Abednego  fell  into  the  flames  of  the  furnace, 


THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CHALDiEANS.  77 

which  was  so  hot  that  the  men  who  cast  in 
the  servants  of  the  Lord,  were  burned  to  death. 
The  Lord  in  whom  they  trusted,  was  able  to  de¬ 
liver  them,  and  did  save  them.  The  Son  of  God 
came  to  their  rescue — the  flames  had  no  power 
over  them,  and  they  walked  together  with  the 
Saviour,  unhurt,  through  the  midst  of  the  fire. 
Thus  God  magnified  his  power  in  the  sight  of 
these  people,  and  his  servants  by  their  steadfast¬ 
ness  were  enabled  to  glorify  him.  Nebuchad¬ 
nezzar  made  a  decree,  “  That  every  people, 
nation,  and  language,  which  speak  any  thing 
amiss  against  the  God  of  Shadrach,  Meshach, 
and  Abednego,  shall  be  cut  in  pieces,  and  their 
houses  shall  be  made  a  dunghill ;  because  there 
is  no  other  God  that  can  deliver  after  this  sort. 
Then  the  king  promoted  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and 
Abednego  in  the  province  of  Babylon.”  (Dan.  iii.) 

2.  Nebo  was  another  idol  of  the  Babylonians, 
from  which  the  names  Nebuchadnezzar,  Nebusa- 
raddan,  and  also  Abed-nego  were  derived.  (Is. 
xlvi.  1 ;  Jer.  xxxix.  11.) 

3.  Merodach  was  the  name  of  another  of  the 
principal  gods  of  Babylon.  “  Bel  is  confounded — 

g  2 


78  THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CHALDiEANS. 

Merodach  is  broken  in  pieces.”  (Jer.  1.2.)  Hence 
we  have  the  names,  Evil-Merodach,  Mardocem- 
padus,  or  Merodach-Baladan.  The  latter  person¬ 
age  was  probably  invested  with  divine  honours 
after  his  death,  and  worshipped  as  the  god  Mero¬ 
dach  ;  though  some  consider  Nebo  and  Merodach 
as  one  and  the  same,  because  they  stand  asso¬ 
ciated  with  Bel,  in  almost  the  same  words.  (Is- 
xlvii.  1  ;  and  Jer.  1.  2.)  Another  supposition  is, 
that  Nebo  was  the  name  of  an  ancient  prophet  of 
Babylon,  who  was  deified ;  and  Merodach,  that 
of  one  of  the  first  kings  of  Chaldsea,  to  whom 
divine  honours  were  paid  after  his  death. 

4.  Succoth-Benoth  was  also  a  Babylonian 
idol,  which  the  Samaritans  worshipped.  (2  Kings, 
xvi.  30.)  “  Every  nation  made  gods  of  their 

own,  and  put  them  in  the  houses  of  the  high 
places  which  the  Samaritans  had  made,  every 
nation  in  their  cities  wherein  they  dwelt.  And  the 
men  of  Babylon  made  Succoth-Benoth,”  &c. 
The  meaning  is  literally,  “  The  tents  of  daugh¬ 
ters  ,”  hence  the  term  has  been  understood  as 
applying,  not  to  a  single  idol-god,  but  to  the 
temples  of  Mylitta,  or  Venus,  in  which  the 


THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  CHALDEANS.  79 


grossest  profligacy  and  licentiousness  were  prac¬ 
tised  by  women  in  honour  of  this  pretended  god¬ 
dess.  Perhaps,  however,  a  particular  image,  or 
even  the  whole  worship  of  Venus  may  have  been 
designated  by  this  name. 

5.  Sesach,  or  Sheshach,  appears  to  have  been 
the  name  of  an  idol,  worshipped  at  Babylon. 
“  And  all  the  kings  of  the  north,  far  and  near, 
one  with  another,  and  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world,  which  are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth :  and 
the  king  of  Sheshach  shall  drink  after  them.” 
(Jer.  xxv.  26.)  And  again — “  How  is  Sheshach 
taken !  and  how  is  the  praise  of  the  whole  earth 
surprised  1  How  is  Babylon  become  an  astonish¬ 
ment  among  the  nations.”  (Jer.  li.  41.)  The 
name,  Meshach,  which  was  given  to  one  of 
Daniel’s  associates,  was  derived  from  this  idol. 
(Dan.  i.  17.)  The  festival  Sacaa ,  which  was 
celebrated  by  the  Babylonians  with  luxurious 
banqueting,  was  probably  instituted  in  honour  of 
Sheshach.  It  is  believed  that  the  wicked  king, 
Belshazzar,  held  the  great  banquet  of  which  we 
have  an  account,  (Dan.  v.)  in  honour  of  this  god. 
Whilst  in  the  midst  of  his  drunken  revelry,  a 


80  THE  IDOL-GODS  OP  THE  CHALDEANS. 

mysterious  hand  appeared,  writing  on  the  wall 
the  doom  of  the  idolatrous  king  and  the  fate  of 

his  empire,  and  “  that  same  night  was  Belshazzar 

/ 

king  of  the  Chaldseans  slain.”  (Dan.  v.  30.) 

There  were  many  other  idols  to  which  divine 
honours  were  paid  at  Babylon,  whose  names  are 
now  unknown.  Their  worship  was  sustained  and 
promoted,  not  only  by  the  priests,  but  by  the  ma¬ 
gicians,  astrologers,  and  sorcerers,  of  whom  fre¬ 
quent  mention  is  made  by  the  prophets.  (Dan. 
ii.  2.) 


IDOLATRY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS,  &C.  81 


CHAPTER  XII. 

IDOLATRY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS,  ARABIANS,  AND 

PERSIANS. 

Nisroch,  an  Assyrian  idol,  was  worshipped  at 
Nineveh,  the  capital  of  Assyria,  under  the  form 
of  an  eagle.  It  is  supposed  by  some  that  Belus, 
or  Nimrod,  who  founded  Nineveh,  was  adored  in 
the  temple  of  Nisroch.  Sennacherib,  the  king  of 
Assyria,  who  defied  the  armies  of  the  living  God, 
and  in  the  pride  of  his  heart,  vainly  imagined 
that  Jehovah  could  no  more  protect  his  people 
than  the  gods  of  the  heathen  nations  whom  he 
had  conquered,  could  preserve  theirs,  was  mur¬ 
dered  in  the  temple  of  Nisroch  by  his  own  sons, 
after  the  destroying  angel  had  passed  through  his 
camp,  and  slain  185,000  of  his  soldiers,  and  he 
had  returned  home  terror-stricken  and  ashamed. 
“  It  came  to  pass  as  he  was  worshipping  in  the 
house  of  Nisroch,  his  god,  that  Adrammelech 


82  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS, 

and  Sharezer,  his  sons,  smote  him  with  the 
sword.”  (2  Kings,  xix.  37.) 

Nergal  was  an  idol  of  the  Cuthites,  2  Kings, 
xvii.  36  ;  “  The  men  of  Cuth  made  Nergal”  their 
god.  They  had  been  transplanted  into  Samaria, 
in  place  of  the  Israelites,  who  had  before  inhabit¬ 
ed  it.  The  word,  Ner,  in  Hebrew,  signifies  a 
“  light,”  or  “  fire galal,  in  the  same  language, 
means  to  revolve — or,  the  word  galah,  may  be 
taken  as  the  root,  the  meaning  of  which  is,  to  re¬ 
veal  or  discover ;  and  then  we  have  as  the  signi¬ 
fication  of  Nergal,  a  revolving  fire  or  light ;  or  a 
fire  which  reveals,  i.  e.  the  Sun,  which,  as  has 
already  been  remarked,  was  adored  by  almost 
every  nation,  but  particularly  by  the  Chaldseans 
and  Persians,  whose  neighbours  the  Cuthites 
were. 

That  the  Arabians  regarded  the  stars  as  gods, 
and  the  Sun  as  the  Supreme  Deity,  has  been 
stated  in  a  previous  section.  The  Sabeans  were 
a  numerous  sect  among  the  Arabians ;  and  in 
order  to  distinguish  them  from  the  magicians  in 
Chaldsea  and  Persia,  they  were  called  image- wor¬ 
shippers,  because  they  dedicated  statues  to  the 


ARABIANS,  AND  PERSIANS.  83 

different  stars,  and  presumed  that  the  power  and 
influence  ascribed  to  the  heavenly  bodies,  was 
communicated  to  these  images.  Opposed  to  this 
class,  were  the  Magi,  or  Fire-worshippers,  who 
held  those  who  paid  honour  to  images  in  utter 
contempt.  This  sect  originated  in  Persia,  but 
soon  extended  their  worship  into  India.  Zoroas¬ 
ter  is  said  to  have  been  the  founder,  or  more  pro¬ 
perly  the  reformer  of  this  denomination,  if  indeed 
the  changes  introduced  by  him  into  the  popular 
religion  can  be  considered  a  reformation.  He 
was  a  famous  prophet  of  the  Magi,  and,  like 
Mahomet,  an  arch-deceiver.  According  to  Orien¬ 
tal  writers,  he  lived  during  the  reign  of  the  Per¬ 
sian  king  Darius  Hystaspis.  He  is  said  to  have 
served  under  a  seer  of  Israel ;  and  if  this  account 
be  true,  Daniel  was,  no  doubt,  the  prophet  in 
question.  Zoroaster  commenced  his  reformation 
in  Media.  The  Magi  supposed  that  there  were 
two  reigning  deities;  the  one  was  Light  and  the 
author  of  good — the  other  was  Darkness  and  the 
author  of  evil ;  but  Zoroaster  introduced  a  higher 
Essence,  a  Supreme  God,  whom  he  regarded  as 
the  maker  of  light  and  darkness ;  and  who,  out  of 


64 


IDOLATRY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS, 


these,  had  created  all  things  according  to  his  will. 
This  idea  was  borrowed  from  Scripture — “  I  am 
the  Lord,  and  there  is  none  else,  there  is  no  God 
besides  me :  I  girded  thee  though  thou  hast 
not  known  me ;  that  they  may  know  from  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  and  from  the  west,  that 
there  is  none  besides  me.  I  am  the  Lord  and 
there  is  none  else.  I  form  the  light,  and 
create  darkness  :  I  make  peace  and  create  evil.” 
{Isaiah,  xlv.  5,  6,  7.)  Wherever  his  influence 
and  principles  extended,  fire  temples  were  built ; 
not  only  in  order  to  afford  greater  facilities  for 
worship,  but  also  to  protect  the  sacred  fire,  which 
was  formerly  liable  to  be  extinguished  by  the  rain 
and  wind,  as  the  altars  on  which  it  was  kept  were, 
before  his  time,  built  under  the  open  sky.  The 
followers  of  Zoroaster  uniformly  professed  to 
worship,  not  the  fire  itself,  but  the  god  of  which 
they  considered  it  the  emblem ;  and  because  the 
Sun  was  regarded  by  them  as  the  most  glorious 
fire,  they  supposed  that  the  throne  of  deity  was 
established  there  in  its  greatest  splendour,  and, 
therefore,  in  performing  their  devotions,  they 
were  accustomed  to  turn  their  faces  eastward ; 


ARABIANS,  AND  PERSIANS. 


85 


first  towards  the  Sun,  which  they  called  Mithras, 
and  then  towards  the  holy  fire.  There  is  a  mark¬ 
ed  reference  to  this  custom  in  Ezekiel,  viii.  15, 
16  :  “  Then  said  he  unto  me,  hast  thou  seen  this, 
O  son  of  man?  Turn  thee  yet  again,  and  thou 
shalt  see  greater  abominations  than  these.  And 
he  brought  me  into  the  inner  court  of  the  Lord’s 
house;  and  behold,  at  the  door  of  the  temple  of 
the  Lord,  between  the  porch  and  the  altar,  were 
about  five  and  twenty  men,  with  their  backs  to¬ 
wards  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and  their  faces  to¬ 
ward  the  east ;  and  they  worshipped  the  Sun 
toward  the  east.”  Zoroaster  pretended  that  he 
had  been  taken  up  into  heaven — that  the  Supreme 
Being  had  spoken  to  him  out  of  a  flame  of  fire — 
that  he  had  brought  back  with  him  from  heaven 
the  first  fire,  which  had  been  kindled  in  the  tem¬ 
ple  ;  and  that  from  this  source  the  sacred  spark  had 
been  communicated  to  other  altars.  This  was  the 
reason  why  the  Persians  preserved  a  constant 
flame,  and  regarded  it  as  sacrilegious  to  permit 
the  everlasting  fire,  (as  it  was  called,)  to  be  ex¬ 
tinguished.  Wherever  the  kings  of  Persia  went, 
sacred  fire  was  carried  before  them  upon  silver 


H 


86 


IDOLATRY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS, 


altars.  Nothing  unclean  was  used  as  fuel.  No¬ 
dead  bodies  were  burnt  by  them,  lest  offence 
should  be  given  to  their  god,  if  he  were  fed  on 
carcasses ;  their  fires  were  therefore  sustained  by 
the  choicest  wood,  which  was  anointed  with  oil, 
after  the  bark  had  been  peeled  off.  They  never 
presumed  to  blow  with  the  mouth  upon  their  fires- 
in  order  to  ignite  them,  but  made  use  of  a  fan — 
it  was  death  to  transgress  this  rule,  or  to  throw 
any  unclean  thing  into  the  flames.  It  was  not 
until  a  late  period  that  the  Persians  erected 
statues  in  honour  of  their  gods,  and  worshipped 
them.  This  practice  was,  however,  at  length  in¬ 
troduced  by  Artaxerxes,  the  son  of  Darius,  and 
father  of  Ochus.  The  figure  of  Mithras  presented 
in  the  plate,  is  one  of  the  most  common  emblems- 
under  which  the  Sun  was  worshipped.  It  repre¬ 
sents  a  man  with  a  lion’s  head,  holding  a  torch 
in  each  hand — a  serpent  entwining  his  neck  and 
shoulders,  overtops  him  by  the  head.  There  are 
four  wings  to  this  figure,  two  of  which  fall  to  the 
earth,  and  the  other  two  are  raised  towards  hea¬ 
ven.  A  long  fillet,  that  hangs  waving  in  the 
wind,  proceeds  out  of  his  mouth.  The  wings 


t 


MITHRAS. 


ARABIANS,  AND  PERSIANS.  87 

denote  the  swiftness  of  the  Sun’s  course ;  the 
two  that  are  raised  upwards,  denote  his  rising, 
and  the  two  which  hang  down,  his  setting.  The 
serpent  is  emblematical  of  the  ecliptic.  The 
torches  denote  the  light  and  heat  emitted  by  the 
Sun. 

Among  the  various  ceremonies  observed  by  the 
Persians  in  honour  of  Mithras,  not  the  least  re¬ 
markable  was  the  dedication  to  it  of  chariots  and 
horses,  which  were  emblematical  of  the  swiftness 
of  its  motion.  The  horses  were  led  out  on  par¬ 
ticular  occasions,  towards  the  east,  and  solemnly 
sacrificed  at  the  rising  of  the  Sun.  The  idola¬ 
trous  kings  of  Judea  adopted  this  practice,  which 
was  abolished  by  Josiah.  “  And  he  took  away 
the  horses  that  the  king  of  Judah  had  given  to 
the  Sun,  at  the  entering  in  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  by  the  chamber  of  Nathan-melech,  the 
chamberlain,  which  was  in  the  suburbs,  and 
burnt  the  chariots  of  the  Sun  with  fire.”  Chariots, 
with  four  horses,  were  dedicated  to  the  Sun,  be¬ 
cause  he  pursues  his  course  through  four  seasons. 
Chariots  of  a  single  span  were  consecrated  to  the 
Moon.  Three-horse  chariots  were  devoted  to  the 


88 


IDOLATRY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS, 


infernal  gods,  whilst  Jupiter  was  honoured  by 
dedicating  to  him  chariots  drawn  by  six  horses. 
Another  common  emblem  of  the  Sun  was  that  of 
a  young  man  driving  a  span  of  horses.  This  has 
been  supposed  to  bear  some  allusion  to  Elijah’s 
ascension  into  heaven,  of  which  many  heathen 
nations  had  no  doubt  heard.  In  support  of  this 
suggestion,  it  has  been  remarked,  that  the  Greek 
word  helios,  which  means  the  Sun,  closely  re¬ 
sembles  the  name  of  Elias.  We  find  the  account 
of  Elijah’s  ascension  into  heaven,  in  2  Kings,  ii. 
“  And  it  came  to  pass  when  the  Lord  would  take 
up  Elijah  into  heaven  by  a  whirlwind,  that  Elijah 
went  with  Elisha  from  Gilgal.  And  Elijah  said 
unto  Elisha,  tarry  here,  I  pray  thee  ;  for  the 
Lord  hath  sent  me  to  Bethel.  And  Elisha  said 
unto  him,  as  the  Lord  liveth,  and  as  thy  soul 
liveth,  I  will  not  leave  thee.  So  they  went  down 
to  Bethel.  And  the  sons  of  the  prophets  that 
were  at  Bethel  came  forth  to  Elisha,  and  said 
unto  him,  knowest  thou  that  the  Lord  will  take 
away  thy  master  from  thy  head  to-day  1  And  he 
said,  yea,  I  know  it ;  hold  ye  your  peace.  And 
Elijah  said  unto  him,  Elisha,  tarry  here,  I  pray 


ARABIANS,  AND  PERSIANS.  89 

thee ;  for  the  Lord  hath  sent  me  to  Jericho.  And 
he  said,  as  the  Lord  liveth,  and  as  thy  soul  liv- 
eth,  I  will  not  leave  thee.  So  they  came  to  Jeri¬ 
cho.  And  the  sons  of  the  prophets  that  were  at 
Jericho  came  to  Elisha,  and  said  unto  him, 
knowest  thou  that  the  Lord  will  take  away  thy 
master  from  thy  head  to-day  ?  And  he  answered, 
yea,  I  know  it ;  hold  ye  your  peace.  And  Elijah 
said  unto  him,  tarry,  I  pray  thee,  here;  for  the 
Lord  hath  sent  me  to  Jordan  ;  and  he  said,  as  the 
Lord  liveth,  and  as  thy  soul  liveth,  I  will  not 
leave  thee.  And  they  two  went  on.  And  fifty 
of  the  sons  of  the  prophets  went,  and  stood  to 
view  afar  off :  and  they  two  stood  by  Jordan. 
And  Elijah  took  his  mantle,  and  wrapt  it  to¬ 
gether,  and  smote  the  waters,  and  they  were 
divided  hither  and  thither,  so  that  they  two  went 
over  on  dry  ground.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when 
they  were  gone  over,  that  Elijah  said  unto  Eli¬ 
sha,  ask  what  I  shall  do  for  thee,  before  I  be 
taken  away  from  thee.  And  Elisha  said,  I  pray 
thee  let  a  double  portion  of  thy  Spirit  be  upon  me. 
And  he  said,  thou  hast  asked  a  hard  thing ;  never¬ 
theless,  if  thou  see  me,  when  I  am  taken  from 

ji  2 


DO  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS,  &C. 

thee,  it  shall  be  so  unto  thee ;  but  if  not,  it  shall 
not  be  so.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  still 
went  on,  and  talked,  that,  behold,  there  appeared 
a  chariot  of  fire,  and  horses  of  fire,  and  parted 
them  both  asunder;  and  Elijah  went  up  by  a 
whirlwind  into  heaven.  And  Elisha  saw  it,  and 
he  cried,  my  father,  my  father !  the  chariot  of 
Israel  and  the  horseman  thereof.  And  he  saw 
him  no  more :  and  he  took  hold  of  his  own  clothes, 
and  rent  them  in  two  pieces.”  (2  Kings,  ii.  1-12.) 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS. 


91 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS. 

The  Egyptians  were  from  a  very  early  period 
addicted  to  idolatry.  •  The  Sun  and  Moon,  to¬ 
gether  with  twelve  other  primary  gods,  which 
were,  in  all  probability,  so  many  constellations, 
were  the  principal  objects  of  their  worship. 
Their  supreme  idol  was  Jupiter-Hammon,  Am¬ 
mon,  or  Amun — evidently  derived  from  Ham, 
who,  with  his  son  Mizraim,  took  possession  of 
Egypt  and  Lybia,  and  was  subsequently  adored 
by  his  idolatrous  descendants  as  the  Supreme 
Being.  The  temple  and  oracle  of  Jupiter- Ammon 
in  the  sandy  deserts  of  Lybia,  have  been  noticed 
in  a  previous  chapter.  A  similar  temple,  if  not 
more  than  one,  stood  in  the  city  of  No- Ammon, 
or  as  the  Greeks  termed  it,  Diospolis,  i.  e.  “Jupi¬ 
ter’s  city.”  “  The  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Is¬ 
rael,  saith,  behold  I  will  punish  the  multitude  of 


92 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS. 


No,  and  Pharaoh,  and  Egypt,  with  their  gods 
and  their  kings  ;  even  Pharaoh,  and  all  them  that 
trust  in  him.”  (Jer.  xlvi.  25.)  “  I  will  pour  out  my 
fury  upon  Sin,  the  strength  of  Egypt ;  and  I  will 
cut  off  the  multitude  of  No.”  (Ez.  xxx.  15.)  “  Art 
thou  better  than  populous  No,  that  was  situate 
among  the  rivers,  that  had  the  waters  round 
about  it,  whose  rampart  was  the  sea,  and  her 
wall  was  from  the  sea?”  (Nahum,  iii.  8.) 

2.  Osiris  was  one  of  the  chief  deities  of  Egypt, 
and,  together  with  Isis,  most  generally  worshipped 
in  Egypt.  Some  authors  have  alleged  that  Osi¬ 
ris  is  Joseph,  the  great  patriarch,  whom  God  so 
highly  exalted  in  Egypt ;  others  again  affirm  that 
Moses  was  his  prototype,  and  the  supporters  of 
both  theories  have  drawn  beautiful  parallels  be¬ 
tween  the  traditions  concerning  Osiris,  and  the 
histories  of  these  two  great  men.  But  there  is 
one  fact,  which  is  too  stubborn  to  be  removed, 
and  which  strikes  a  death-blow  at  both  supposi¬ 
tions — for,  it  is  certain,  that  the  worship  of  Osiris 
was  more  ancient  than  either  Moses  or  Joseph,  as 
is  evident  from  the  circumstance  that  the  Israel¬ 
ites  imitated  the  ceremonies  observed  in  the  wor- 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS 


93 


OSIRIS. 


ship  of  Osiris,  in  the  adoration  of  the  golden  calf. 
Another  opinion  is,  that  Osiris  and  Jupiter-Am- 
mon  are  the  same,  and  that  Ham,  the  son  of 
Noah,  was  deified  after  his  death,  and  worshipped 
as  that  god.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that 
Osiris  was  intended  to  represent  the  Sun ;  whether 


94 


IDOL-GODS  OF  TIIE  EGYPTIANS. 


it  was,  that  the  priests  of  Egypt,  to  conceal  the 
true  history  of  a  prince  of  that  name,  gave  out 
that  he  was  the  Sun ;  or,  whether,  acknowledging 
him  to  have  been  a  mortal  who  had  conferred 
many  blessings  upon  their  country,  they  taught 
that  he  had  been  translated  to  that  luminary,  it  is 
at  least  certain,  they  agreed  that  he  had  become 
that  radiant  orb,  which  diffuses  light  and  heat 
over  all  the  earth,  and  that  divine  honours  should 
be  paid  to  him.  There  were  several  symbols 
under  which  Osiris  was  worshipped.  That  in  the 
plate  consists  of  the  body  of  a  man,  with  an  eagle’s 
head,  surmounted  by  a  helmet,  on  which  is  a 
figure  of  the  Sun.  The  eagle’s  head,  no  doubt, 
refers  to  the  piercing  sight  of  that  bird,  which  the 
ancients  admired  on  account  of  its  soaring  and 
daring  flights,  calling  it  “the  bird  of  Jove;”  and 
also  because  they  supposed  its  vision  to  be  unim¬ 
paired  by  gazing  at  the  Sun.  But  the  most  com¬ 
mon  figure  under  which  Osiris  was  worshipped, 
was  that  of  an  ox ;  and  not  only  were  divine 
honours  paid  to  the  golden  images  representing 
this  creature,  but  also  to  the  real  animal  itself; 
for  it  is  well  established,  that  the  Egyptians  kept 


r 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS. 


95 


in  the  temple  of  Osiris  a  living  ox,  which  they 
worshipped.  In  Heliopolis  this  idol  was  known 
by  the  name  of  Mnevis  ;  in  Memphis,  it  was  called 
Apis.  The  beast  selected  as  the  object  of  adora¬ 
tion,  was  required  to  have  the  following  marks. 
His  body  must  be  all  over  black,  except  one 
white  spot  on  the  forehead,  and  another  on  his 
back  in  the  shape  of  an  eagle,  or  according  to 
others,  of  a  half-moon ;  the  tuft  at  the  extremity 
of  the  tail  was  to  be  bifurcate,  and  under  the 
tongue  there  must  be  a  wart.  Whenever  an  ox 
answering  this  description  was  found,  it  was 
brought  with  great  rejoicings  into  the  temple  of 
Osiris — there  it  was  kept  and  worshipped  till  its 
death,  when  it  was  solemnly  interred,  and  a 
substitute,  with  the  requisite  qualifications  was 
sought.  If  it  happened  to  live  too  long,  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  rule,  it  was  drowned  in  the  Nile, 
for  the  sacred  books  of  the  priests  prescribed  to 
this  divinity  a  precise  day,  beyond  which  he  was 
not  permitted  to  live ;  and  if  his  natural  death  did 
not  occur  within  the  limits  there  laid  down,  he 
was  thrown  into  the  river.  But,  when  the  ox 
died  a  natural  death,  they  gave  it  magnificent 


i 


96 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS. 


obsequies,  and  on  such  occasions,  were  so  lavish 
in  their  expense,  that  they  who  were  appointed 
for  its  retinue,  not  unfrequently  ruined  their  for¬ 
tunes.  It  once  occurred  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy, 
the  son  of  Lagus,  that  fifty  talents,  or  $76,000, 
were  borrowed  to  defray  the  charges  of  its  funeral 
rites.  Sometimes  it  happened  that  several  years 
elapsed  before  another  Apis  could  be  found.  At 
the  very  time  when  Cambyses,  king  of  Persia, 
was  at  Memphis,  they  had  just  found  a  beast  to 
suit  them,  and  were  exulting  with  the  most  ex¬ 
travagant  demonstrations  of  delight,  because  the 
god  Apis  had  once  more  made  his  appearance. 
Cambyses  bade  them  bring  the  animal  before 
him,  and  when  it  had  accordingly  been  led  into 
his  presence,  he  stabbed  it  in  the  flank  with  his 
dagger,  and  laughed  the  priests  to  scorn  for  wor¬ 
shipping  a  beast,  as  though  it  were  a  god. 

At  a  later  period,  the  Persian  king,  Ochus,  or¬ 
dered  Apis  to  be  dragged  out  of  his  temple,  and 
after  sacrificing  an  ass  to  their  god,  compelled 
the  priests  to  eat  the  victim.  The  emperor  Au¬ 
gustus,  when  requested  to  visit  the  temple  of  this 
idol,  replied  that  he  worshipped  the  gods  and  not 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS 


97 


I 


98 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS. 


dumb  beasts.  The  mode  of  consulting  Apis  was 
the  following.  They  who  were  desirous  of  ascer¬ 
taining  the  mind  of  the  god,  previously  burnt  in¬ 
cense  upon  an  altar  filled  with  oil  from  the  lamps 
lighted  on  the  occasion,  and  laid  down  a  piece  of 
money  upon  the  altar,  at  the  right  side  of  the 
statue  of  Apis.  Then,  having  applied  their  mouth 
to  the  ear  of  the  god  to  interrogate  him,  they 
went  away,  stopped  their  ears  till  they  got  with¬ 
out  the  precincts  of  the  tbmple,  and  whatever 
they  heard  first  was  received  as  an  answer  from 
the  idol. 

The  children  of  Israel,  when  in  Egypt,  had 
been  spectators  at  the  festivals,  held  in  honour  of 
this  idol,  and  hence  their  worshipping  the  Lord 
under  the  figure  of  a  golden  calf,  is  easily  ac¬ 
counted  for.  Aaron  made  the  image  after  the 
model  of  Apis,  and  the  Israelites  adored  it  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  Egyptian  custom  with  feasting,  dancing, 
and  singing.  Moses  had  gone  up  to  commune 
with  the  Lord  on  Mount  Sinai,  and  delaying  some¬ 
what  longer  than  the  Israelites  thought  desirable, 
they  came  to  Aaron  and  said,  “  Up,  make  us 
gods  which  shall  go  before  us ;  for,  as  for  this 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS. 


99 


Moses,  the  man  that  brought  us  up  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  we  wot  not  what  is  become  of 
him.”  Aaron  consented — perhaps,  because  he 
saw  that  expostulation  would  be  useless,  or  be¬ 
cause  he  thought  that  by  suffering  them  to  dis¬ 
grace  themselves,  he  could  inspire  them  with  an 
utter  abhorrence  of  such  practices  for  the  future. 
The  people  brought  to  Aaron  all  the  gold  orna¬ 
ments  they  could  collect,  and  he  made  out  of 
them  a  molten' calf .  It  is  impossible  to  justify 
Aaron’s  conduct  in  this  particular ;  he  ought 
rather  to  have  died  than  connived  at  their  sin. 
God  saw  them  in  the  midst  of  their  idolatrous 
worship,  and  his  anger  was  kindled  against  them. 
He  sent  Moses  down  in  haste  from  the  Mount, 
telling  him  that  the  people  which  he  brought  out 
of  Egypt  had  corrupted  themselves :  “  I  have  seen 
this  people,  and  beloved,  it  is  a  stiff-necked  peo¬ 
ple;  now  therefore  let  me  alone,  that  my  wrath 
may  wax  hot  against  them,  and  that  I  may  con¬ 
sume  them,  and  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  na¬ 
tion.”  But  Moses  would  not  let  the  Lord ,  long- 
suffering  and  gracious,  alone .  He  pleads  for 
Israel  with  holy  importunity ;  reminds  Jehovah 


100 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS. 


of  his  covenant  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
and  prevails,  having  power  with  God;  and  the 
Lord  repented  of  the  evil  which  he  thought  to  do 
unto  his  people. 

Moses  and  his  servant  Joshua  went  down  to¬ 
gether,  and  as  they  drew  near  the  camp,  they 
heard  the  noise  of  the  people  as  they  shouted, 
and  Joshua  exclaims,  “  There  is  a  noise  of  war 
in  the  camp;”  but  Moses  tells  him,  “  It  is  not  the 
voice  of  them  that  shout  for  mastery,  neither  is 
the  voice  of  them  that  cry  for  being  overcome ; 
but  the  noise  of  them  that  sing,  do  I  hear.” 
And  now  they  are  near  enough  to  see  the  palf 
and  the  dancing.  Moses  cannot  contain  his  in¬ 
dignation.  He  throws  down  the  tables  of  the  tes¬ 
timony,  upon  which  the  law  of  God  was  written, 
the  first  commandment  of  which,  “  Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  before  me,”  Israel  had  so 
shamefully  transgressed,  rushes  in  among  the 
people,  takes  the  calf  which  they  had  made,  and 
burns  it  in  the  fire ;  and  having  ground  it  to 
powder,  and  strewed  it  upon  the  water,  he  makes 
the  children  of  Israel  drink  of  it.  The  anger  of 
Moses  is  still  more  excited,  when  he  sees,  that 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS. 


101 


according  to  the  custom  of  Egypt,  the  worship¬ 
pers  of  the  golden  calf  have  made  themselves 
naked.  He  places  himself  in  the  gate  of  the  camp, 
and  calls  out,  “  Who  is  on  the  Lord’s  side,  let 
him  come  unto  me.”  All  the  sons  of  Levi  an¬ 
swered  to  the  call,  and  Moses  sends  them  out, 
after  bidding  them  gird  on  their  swords,  and 
commands  them  to  spare  neither  son  nor  brother, 
nor  neighbour  nor  companion,  but  to  hew  down 
every  idolater  they  met. 

The  Levites  did  as  commanded,  and  three 
thousand  corpses  in  the  camp  of  Israel  testified 
that  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  tempt  God,  and  incur 
his  wrath  by  worshipping  graven  images.  Nor 
was  this  all.  A  plague  from  the  Lord  fell  upon 
the  surviving  idolaters  ;  and  worse  than  all,  the 
Lord  Jehovah  withdrew,  and  refused  to  go  up 
with  the  people ;  but,  at  the  intercession  of  Moses, 
upon  the  repentance  of  Israel,  he  was  entreated, 
and  pardoned  their  iniquity.  (Ex.  xxxii.  xxxiii. 
xxxiv.) 

We  find  a  reference  to  this,  and  similar  trans¬ 
gressions,  in  Ezekiel,  xxvi.  18.  “  But  the  house 

of  Israel  rebelled  against  me  in  the  wilderness  ; 

i  2 


102 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS. 


they  walked  not  in  my  statutes,  and  they  despised 
my  judgments,  which  if  a  man  do,  he  shall  even 
live  in  them  ;  and  my  Sabbaths  they  greatly  pol¬ 
luted  :  then  I  said,  I  will  pour  out  my  fury  upon 
them  in  the  wilderness,  to  consume  them.” 


3S0L-G0BS  OF  EGYPT. 


103 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

*  i.  ^  ^ 

IDOL-GODS  OF  EGYPT. 

The  wicked  Jeroboam  established  the  worship 
*of  the  golden  calves  at  Bethel  and  Dan,  in  order 
to  prevent  the  kingdom  from  returning  to  the 
house  of  David.  “  If,”  said  he  in  his  heart,  “  this 
people  go  up  to  do  sacrifice  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord  at  Jerusalem,  then  shall  the  heart  of  this 
people  turn  again  unto  their  lord,  even  unto  Re- 
hoboam,  king  of  Judah,  and  they  shall  kill  me,  and 
go  again  to  Rehoboam,  king  of  Judah.  Where¬ 
upon  the  king  took  counsel,  and  made  two  calves 
of  gold,  and  said  unto  the  people,  it  is  too  much 
for  you  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem  :  behold  thy  gods, 
O  Israel,  which  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt.  And  he  set  the  one  in  Bethel,  and  the 
other  put  he  in  Dan.”  (1  Kings,  xii.  26-29.) 

We  learn  how  it  was  that  Jeroboam  acquired 
such  partiality  for  the  idolatry  of  Egypt,  by  re- 


104 


IDOL-GODS  OF  EGYPT 


ferring  to  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  same  book. 
“  Solomon  sought  to  kill  Jeroboam :  and  Jero¬ 
boam  arose,  and  fled  into  Egypt,  and  was  in 
Egypt  until  the  death  of  Solomon.  (1  Kings,  xi.  40.) 

3.  Isis  was  a  divinity  of  the  Egyptians,  the 
images  of  which  were  made  in  the  figure  of  a 


YUOL-GODS  OF  EGYPT 


105 


ISIS. 


woman,  with  the  horns  of  an  ox.  All  cows  were 
consecrated  to  Isis.  It  is  well  established  that  the 
Moon  was  the  object  adored  under  the  name  and 
character  of  this  idol.  There  was  a  famous  tem¬ 
ple  of  Isis  at  Busiris.  The  worship  of  this  deity 
was  blended  with  that  of  Osiris,  and  similar  cere- 


106 


IDOL-GODS  OF  EGYPT. 


monies  were  observed  in  their  adoration.  The 
goddess  Cybele  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  cor¬ 
responded  to  the  Isis  of  the  Egyptians. 

Isis  was  usually  delineated  with  a  cymbal  in 
her  hand,  and  a  crown,  in  the  form  of  a  tower 
upon  her  head.  The  image  of  her  son,  Harpoc- 
rates,  was  generally  associated  with  her,  and  re¬ 
presented  a  young  man,  pressing  his  finger  upon 
his  lips,  in  token  of  the  secrecy  which  was  en¬ 
joined  upon  the  worshippers  of  Isis,  whose  mys¬ 
teries  like  those  of  Ceres,  it  was  considered  sacri¬ 
lege  to  reveal. 

4.  Serapis  was  another  idol  of  the  Egyptians, 
entirely  distinct  from  Apis  or  Osiris,  (with  which 
it  has  been  supposed  to  be  synonymous,)  inas¬ 
much  as  its  worship  was  introduced  1000  years 
afler  the  period  in  which  Moses  lived,  and  shortly 
before  the  death  of  the  Egyptian  king  Ptolemseus 
Soterus,  who  is  said  to  have  brought  the  know¬ 
ledge  of  it  from  Pontus  into  Egypt,  and  to  have 
erected  a  temple  in  Alexandria,  which  was  called 
Serapseeum,  in  honour  of  this  imaginary  deity. 
It  is  believed  that  Pluto  was  worshipped  in  Egypt 
under  the  name  of  this  idol,  and  the  figures  of 


IDOL-GODS  OF  EGYPT. 


107 


Serapis,  which  have  been  preserved,  appear  to 
corroborate  this  opinion.  He  is  usually  repre¬ 
sented  as  a  man  of  a  grave  and  dignified  appear¬ 
ance,  preceded  by  an  animal  with  three  heads,  a 
lion’s  head  being  in  the  midst,  with  a  wolf’s 
head  on  the  left,  and  a  dog’s  head  on  the  right 
hand.  It  is  well  known  that  Pluto  is  accompanied 
by  the  three-headed  monster  Ceberus,  in  all  the 
symbols  intended  to  represent  the  ruler  of  the 
infernal  regions. 

5.  Baal-zephon.  The  name  of  this  deity  im¬ 
ports  that  he  was  adored  as  the  “  god  of  scrutiny.” 
Its  temple  and  image  were  situated  on  the  shore 
of  the  Red  Sea.  When  Moses  had  brought  the 
children  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt,  and  Pharaoh  had 
set  out  in  pursuit,  the  Lord  bade  Moses,  “  Speak 
unto  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  turn  and  en¬ 
camp  before  Pi-hahiroth,  between  Migdol  and  the 
Sea,  over  against  Baal-zephon :  before  it  shall  ye 
encamp  by  the  Sea.  For  Pharaoh  will  say  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  They  are  entangled  in  the  land, 
the  wilderness  hath  shut  them  in.”  (Ex.  xiv.  2,  3.) 
And  again :  The  Egyptians  pursued  after  them 
(all  the  horses  and  chariots  of  Pharaoh,  and  his 


108 


IDOL-GODS  OF  EGYPT. 


horsemen,  and  his  army,)  and  overtook  them  en¬ 
camping  by  the  Sea,  beside  Pi-hahiroth  before 
Baal-zephon.”  (Ex.  xiv.  9.)  The  reason  why 
this  site  was  chosen  for  the  temple  of  Baal-zephon 
was,  in  order  that  all  fugitives  from  Egypt  might, 
by  its  influence,  be  detained  and  hindered  from 
escaping.  Perhaps  it  was,  with  a  view  to  cast 
eternal  reproach  upon  this  idol-god,  that  Jehovah 
commanded  his  people  to  come  within  the  reach 
of  its  pretended  power.  In  sight -of  this  impotent 
thing,  Pharaoh  and  all  his  host,  who  pursued  the 
Israelites,  sank  like  lead  to  the  bottom,  when  God 
called  back  to  their  accustomed  bed,  the  waters  of 
the  Red  Sea.  Baal-zephon  was  also  the  name  of 
a  city.  One  of  the  journeys  of  the  Israelites  in 
the  wilderness  is  thus  stated:  “  And  they  removed 
from  Etham  and  turned  again  unto  Pi-hahiroth, 
which  is  before  Baal-zephon :  and  they  pitched 
before  Migdol.”  (Numb,  xxxiii.  7.)  Here  we  find 
Baal-zephon  associated  with  the  names  of  cities, 
in  such  a  way  as  to  show  that  it  also  was  the  name 
of  a  place. 

6.  Chiun,  or  Cijjun,  the  Persian  and  Arabian 
name  for  the  planet  Saturn,  was  another  imagi- 


IDOL-GODS  OF  EGTTT. 


109 


nary  divinity,  worshipped  in  Egypt.  “  Have  ye 
offered  unto  me  sacrifices  and  offerings  in  the 
wilderness  forty  years,  O  house  of  Israel  ?  But 
ye  have  borne  the  tabernacle  of  your  Moloch  and 
Chiun  your  images,  the  star  of  your  god,  which 
ye  made  to  yourselves.”  (Amos,  v.  26.)  The 
name  under  which  Chiun  was  known  in  Egypt, 
was  Remphan,  so  called  by  the  martyr  Stephen, 
who  testified  that  the  Jews  had  learned  to  serve 
it  from  the  Egyptians.  “  Yea,  ye  took  up  the 
tabernacle  of  Moloch,  and  the  star  of  your  god 
Remphan,  figures  which  ye  made  to  worship 
them.”  (Acts,  vii.  43.) 

7.  The  Egyptians  are  said  to  have  worshipped 
fire  also,  under  the  name,  Seraphim. 

8.  There  were  many  animals  to  which  at  a  very 
early  period,  divine  honours  were  paid  in  Egypt; 
such  as  dogs,  cats,  sheep,  oxen,  birds,  reptiles, 
&c.  Whatever  living  creature  was  the  first  to 
meet  them  in  the  morning,  was  adored  as  their 
god.  The  images  of  sacred  animals  were  de¬ 
posited  in  their  temples.  Whoever  killed  a  beast 
forfeited  his  life.  This  accounts  satisfactorily  for 
the  unwillingness  of  the  Israelites  to  offer  sacri- 


110 


IDOL-GODS  OF  EGYPT. 


fices  in  Egypt.  “  And  Pharaoh  called  for  Moses 
and  for  Aaron,  and  said,  go  ye,  sacrifice  to  your 
God  in  the  land.  And  Moses  said,  it  is  not  meet 
so  to  do ;  for  we  shall  sacrifice  the  abomination 
of  the  Egyptians  to  the  Lord  our  God :  lo,  we 
shall  sacrifice  the  abominations  of  the  Egyptians 
before  their  eyes,  and  will  they  not  stone  us 
(Ex.  viii.  25,  26.) 

The  abhorrence  of  the  Egyptians  against  herds¬ 
men,  whose  office,  it  is  well  known,  was  by  them 
considered  most  disgraceful,  is  notorious ;  but 
when  it  is  remembered,  that  shepherds  and  herds¬ 
men  generally  used  the  flesh  of  their  cattle  as 
food,  it  can  well  be  imagined  that  the  idolatrous 
Egyptians  would  detest  the  sacrilegious  men  who 
were  in  the  habit  of  eating  up  their  country’s 
gods.  Hence  it  was  necessary  that  Joseph  should 
prepare  the  mind  of  Pharaoh  to  receive  his 
brethren,  before  presenting  them  to  the  king,  be¬ 
cause  their  occupation  had  been  “  about  cattle” 
from  their  earliest  youth.  “  And  Joseph  said 
unto  his  brethren,  and  unto  his  father’s  house,  I 
will  go  up  and  show  Pharaoh,  and  say  unto  him, 
my  brethren  and  my  father’s  house,  which  were 


IDOL-GODS  OF  EGYPT. 


Ill 


in  the  land  of  Canaan,  are  come  unto  me ;  and 
the  men  are  shepherds,  for  their  trade  hath  been 
to  feed  cattle;  and  they  have  brought  their  flocks, 
and  their  herds,  and  all  that  they  have.  And  it 
shall  come  to  pass,  when  Pharaoh  shall  call  you, 
and  shall  say,  what  is  your  occupation  ?  that  ye 
shall  say, [thy  servant’s  trade  hath  been  about  cattle 
from  our  youth  even  until  now,  both  we  and  also 
our  fathers ;  that  ye  may  dwell  in  the  land  of 
Goshen :  for  every  shepherd  is  an  abomination 
unto  the  Egyptians.”  (Gen.  xlvi.  31-34.)  This 
passage  of  Scripture,  (and  indeed  the  whole  con¬ 
text),  developes  a  noble  trait  in  Joseph’s  charac¬ 
ter.  He  was  high  in  power  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
was  invested  with  little  less  than  the  authority  of 
royalty  itself;  but  all  the  splendour  of  the  court 
of  Pharaoh  could  not  make  him  forget  his  poor 
old  father,  or  his  wicked  brethren,  who  had  sold 
him  as  a  slave.  Let  us  learn  from  this,  to  leave 
vengeance  to  the  Lord  :  “  If  our  enemy  hunger, 
let  us  feed  him;  if  he  thirst,  let  us  give  him  water 
to  drink;  for,  in  so  doing,  we  shall  heap  coals  of 
fire  on  his  head.”  An  infinitely  greater  instance 
of  forbearance  and  forgiveness  is  furnished  by 


IDOL-GODS  OF  EGYPT 


112 


DIANA  iELURUS. 


the  blessed  Saviour.  When  he  hung  bleeding  on 
the  cross,  suspended  by  the  soreness  of  his 
wounds,  and  the  cruel  men  who  nailed  him  to  the 
tree  stood  around  him,  mocking  and  reviling,  he 
prayed,  “  Father,  forgive  them — they  know  not 
what  they  do.” 

But  to  return  to  the  Egyptians.  It  was  even 
customary  at  one  time,  to  take  sacred  animals 
with  them  as  tutelary  deities,  when  they  went  to 


IDOL-GODS  OP  EGYPT. 


113 


war.  The  figure  in  the  plate  is  a  representation 
of  Diana  iEIurus,  who  was  worshipped  under  the 
form  of  a  cat.  It  was  well  said  by  one  of  the 
ancients,  that  it  was  a  happy  thing  for  mankind 
that  the  theology  of  Egypt  was  not  relished  by 
all  nations,  because,  had  this  been  the  case,  the 
world  would  soon  have  been  inhabited  by  beasts 
instead  of  men. 

9.  Finally,  satyrs  or  devils  were  adored,  un¬ 
der  the  figure  of  a  goat.  Under  this  form  the  idol 
Pan  was  worshipped.  The  most  horrible  ob¬ 
scenity  and  prostitution  was  practised  at  their 
festivals.  Jeroboam  introduced  this  vile  abomi¬ 
nation  also  :  “  And  he  ordained  him  priests  for  the 
high  places,  and  for  the  devils,  and  for  the  calves 
which  he  had  made.”  (2  Chron.  xi.  15.)  This, 
too,  in  the  face  of  the  solemn  prohibition  of  Jeho¬ 
vah  :  “  They  shall  no  more  offer  their  sacrifices 
unto  devils,  after  whom  they  have  gone  a  whoring. 
This  shall  be  a  statute  for  ever  unto  them  through¬ 
out  their  generations.”  (Lev.  xvii.  7.) 

In  the  Egyptian  plagues,  the  Lord  God  threw 

<' 

down  the  idol-gods  of  the  Egyptians,  thereby 
showing  their  impotence  :  “  Against  all  the  gods 

K  2 


114 


IDOL-GODS  OF  EGYPT. 


of  Egypt,  I  will  execute  judgment ;  I  am  the  Lord.” 
(Ex.  xii.  12 ;  and  Numb,  xxxiii.  4.) 

There  are  three  kinds  of  priests  mentioned  in 
Scripture  as  prominent  among  the  Egyptians,  viz. 
“  Wise  men,  magicians,  and  sorcerers,”  (Ex.  vii. 
11,  and  Gen.  xli.  8,)  but  the  distinction  between 
them  cannot  be  accurately  defined,  as  they  ap¬ 
pear  to  have  been  consulted  almost  indiscrimi¬ 
nately. 


ID0L-G0D8  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 


115 


CHAPTER  XV. 

IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 

Baal  was  the  common  appellation  of  almost 
every  heathen  idol,  but  it  was  the  proper  and 
peculiar  name  of  the  great  divinity  of  the  Phoe¬ 
nicians,  which  was  worshipped  in  Tyre  and  Si- 
don,  and  from  these  cities  introduced  into  the 
land  of  Israel  by  Jezebel.  Of  Ahab  it  is  said — 
“  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  if  it  had  been  a  light 
thing  for  him  to  walk  in  the  sins  of  Jeroboam,  the 
son  of  Nebat,  that  he  took  to  wife  Jezebel,  the 
daughter  of  Ethbaal,  king  of  the  Zidonians,  and 
went  and  served  Baal,  and  worshipped  him.  And 
he  reared  up  an  altar  for  Baal  in  the  house  of 
Baal,  which  he  had  built  in  Samaria.”  (1  Kings, 
xvi.  31,  32.)  There  was  a  festival  held  every 
five  years  in  honour  of  this  idol,  which  correspond¬ 
ed  to  the  Olympian  games,  occurring  once  in  four 
years,  and  celebrated  in  honour  of  Jupiter  and 


116  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 

Hercules.  Baal  was  known  to  the  Greeks  under 
the  name  of  the  Tyrian  Hercules.  The  Tyrians 
themselves,  however,  designated  their  idol  by  the 
name  Melacarthus,  which  is  composed  of  two 
Phoenician  words,  melee  and  kartha ,  meaning 
king,  or  lord  of  the  city.  The  Grecians,  having 
noticed  some  similarity  between  the  ceremonies, 
observed  at  the  festivals  of  Baal,  and  those  which 
were  common  at  home  in  the  worship  of  Plercu- 
les,  supposed  that  they  were  both  alike,  and  hence 
arose  the  name  of  the  Tyrian  Plercules.  We  are 
told  in  2  Macc.  iv.  18,  19,  “Now,  when  the 
game  that  was  used  every  fifth  year  was  kept  at 
Tyrus,  the  king  being  present,  this  ungracious 
Jason  sent  special  messengers  from  Jerusalem, 
who  were  Antiochians,  to  carry  three  hundred 
drachms  of  silver  to  the  sacrifice  of  Hercules, 
which  even  the  bearers  thereof  thought  fit  not  to 
bestow  upon  the  sacrifice,  because  it  was  not 
convenient,  but  to  be  reserved  for  other  charges.” 

Melee  and  Baal,  with  the  surname  Kartha,  are 
synonymous.  The  former  meaning  “  king,”  the 
latter  “  lord,  of  the  city.”  Melee  was  also  used 
alone,  like  Baal.  Hesychius  tells  us  that  Melee 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS.  117 


was  the  name  of  Hercules  among  the  Amathu- 
sians,  who  were  a  colony  of  Tyrians  in  Cyprus. 
The  worship  of  this  idol  was  introduced  among 
the  Israelites,  more  especially  in  the  days  of  Ahab 
and  his  successors ;  as  is  evident  by  a  reference 
to  the  following  Scriptures,  1  Kings,  xvi.  31, 
(quoted  above,)  1  Kings,  xviii.  21,  where  Elijah 
calls  on  the  children  of  Israel  to  take  a  decided 
stand  on  the  side  either  of  God  or  of  Baal :  “  How 
long  halt  ye  between  two  opinions  ?  If  the  Lord 
be  God,  follow  him :  but  if  Baal,  then  follow 
him.” 

Jehu,  the  successor  of  Jeroboam,  after  putting 
the  children  of  Ahab  to  death,  and  appearing  ani¬ 
mated  by  zeal  for  the  glory  of  Jehovah,  soon  fell 
into  the  sins  of  Jeroboam :  “  And  Jehu  gathered 
all  the  people  together,  and  said  unto  them,  Ahab 
served  Baal  a  little,  but  Jehu  shall  serve  him 
much.”  (2  Kings,  x.  18.)  Now,  although  this 
was  said  with  a  view  to  decoy  the  priests  of  Baal 
into  one  place,  in  order  to  kill  them,  and  although 
the  artifice  was  successful,  yet  it  is  expressly 
stated,  that  “  Jehu  took  no  heed  to  walk  in  the 
law  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  with  all  his  heart ; 


118  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  FIHENICIANS. 

for  he  departed  not  from  the  sins  of  Jeroboam, 
which  made  Israel  to  sin.”  So  that  the  declara¬ 
tion  which  he  made  in  order  to  deceive  the  priests 
of  Baal,  proved  in  the  end  but  too  true.  His 
hypocrisy  probably  did  more  to  promote  the 
worship  of  Baal,  than  all  the  altars  and  high 
places  which  Ahab  had  consecrated  to  that  idol. 

The  Lord  complains  of  his  covenant  people 
through  the  prophet  Hosea :  “  She  did  not  know 
that  I  gave  her  corn,  and  wine,  and  oil,  and  mul¬ 
tiplied  her  silver  and  gold,  which  they  prepared 
for  Baal.”  (Hos.  ii.  8.)  Temples  and  altars  were 
erected  to  Baal.  (1  Kings,  xvi.  32 ;  2  Kings,  x. 
21,  23.)  “  Jehu  and  Jehonadab,  the  son  of  Re- 

chab,  went  into  the  house  of  Baalf  &c.  Its 
images  were  set  up,  as  we  learn  from  the  26th 
and  27th  verses  of  the  same  chapter :  “And  they 
brought  forth  the  images  out  of  the  house  of  Baal, 
and  burned  them.  And  they  brake  down  the 
image  of  Baal,  and  brake  down  the  house  of 
Baal,”  &c.  Groves  were  planted  to  promote  its 
worship:  “Ahab  made  a  grove”  for  Baal.  (1 
Kings,  xvi.  33.)  Prophets  and  priests  were  ap¬ 
pointed  to  maintain  its  worship,  (2  Kings,  x.  19,) 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS.  119 


who  presided  at  the  festivals  of  Baal,  (2  Kings,  x. 
20,)  and  burnt  incense.  Jeremiah  chides  Judah 
thus :  “  According  to  the  number  of  thy  cities 
were  thy  gods,  O  Judah ;  and  according  to  the 
number  of  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  have  ye  set 
up  altars  to  that  shameful  thing,  even  altars  to 
burn  incense  unto  Baal.”  (Jer.  xi.  13.)  Various 
kinds  of  sacrifices  were  offered,  (2  Kings,  x.  19, 
24,)  whilst  the  prophets  and  worshippers  of  Baal 
cut  and  wounded  their  flesh,  (1  Kings,  xviii.  28,) 
and  leaped  upon  the  altar,  (verse  26,)  after  kneel¬ 
ing  before  the  images,  praying  to  them  and  kissing 
them.  (1  Kings,  xix.  18.)  These  details  con¬ 
cerning  the  worship  of  Baal  are  furnished  in  the 
course  of  a  very  interesting  account  of  the  means 
employed  by  Elijah,  to  rid  Israel  of  the  priests  of 
this  idol.  The  Lord,  in  order  to  punish  Ahab  for 
his  wickedness,  had  withheld  the  rain,  so  that  for 
three  years  there  was  a  most  distressing  drought 
in  the  land  :  “  After  many  days  the  word  of  the 
Lord  came  to  Elijah,  saying,  go  show  thyself 
unto  Ahab ;  and  I  will  send  rain  upon  the  earth.” 
Elijah  accordingly  went,  and  when  on  his  way, 
he  was  met  by  Obadiah,  the  governor  of  Ahab’s 


120  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 

house,  a  good  man,  who  had  hid  a  hundred  of  the 
Lord’s  prophets  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life,  at  a 
time  when  Jezebel  was  persecuting  the  priests  of 
the  Lord.  Obadiah  had  been  sent  by  Ahab  to 
look  for  water,  for  the  drought  had  become  so 
excessive  that  the  horses  and  cattle  were  on  the 
point  of  perishing.  He  was  rejoiced  to  meet  Eli¬ 
jah,  but  when  the  prophet  bade  him  “go  and  tell 
Ahab,  behold,  Elijah  is  here,”  he  was  greatly 
distressed  :  “  As  the  Lord  thy  God  liveth,  there  is 
no  nation  or  kingdom  whither  my  lord  hath  not 
sent  to  seek  thee :  and  wdien  they  said,  he  is  not 
there,  he  took  an  oath  of  the  kingdom  and  nation 
that  they  found  thee  not.  And  now  thou  sayest, 
go,  tell  thy  lord,  behold,  Elijah  is  here.  And  it 
shall  come  to  pass,  as  soon  as  I  am  gone  from 
thee,  that  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  carry  thee 
whither  I  know  not;  and  so,  when  I  come  and 
tell  Ahab,  and  he  cannot  find  thee,  he  shall  slay  me : 
but  I,  thy  servant,  fear  the  Lord  from  my  youth.” 
Elijah  assures  his  friend  that  he  is  sincere  in  his 
determination  to  show  himself  to  Ahab  that  very 
day,  and  so  Obadiah  went  back  to  his  master  and 
delivered  the  prophet’s  message.  When  Ahab 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHCENICIANS.  121 


and  Elijah  met,  the  first  word  that  the  king  ad¬ 
dressed  to  him  was,  “  Art  thou  he  that  troubleth 
Israel?”  “  No,”  said  the  prophet,  “I  have  not 
troubled  Israel ;  but  thou,  and  thy  father’s  house, 
in  that  ye  have  forsaken  the  commandments  of 
the  Lord,  and  thou  hast  followed  Baalim.”  Vir¬ 
tue  is  as  bold,  as  guilt  is  cowardly.  Elijah  had 
been  hunted  by  this  wicked  king  through  every 
province  of  his  empire,  and  yet  when  they  meet, 
Ahab  seems  abashed  in  his  presence,  and  the  ser¬ 
vant  of  the  Lord  commands ,  after  throwing  back 
upon  his  persecutor  the  imputation  of  troubling 
Israel.  He  bids  him  gather  all  Israel  to  Mount 
Carmel,  together  with  the  prophets  of  Baal,  and 
of  the  groves,  850  in  all.  He  is  obeyed.  And 
now  Elijah  comes  to  the  people  and  asks,  “  How 
long  halt  ye  between  two  opinions  ?”  He  calls  on 
them  to  decide  whether  Jehovah  or  Baal  be  God, 
by  a  simple  test.  Let  the  prophets  of  Baal  take 
a  bullock  and  cut  it  in  pieces,  and  lay  it  on  wood, 
and  put  no  fire  under,  and  he  will  dress  the  other 
bullock,  and  put  kindling  wood  around  it  without 
fire,  and  the  God  that  answereth  by  fire,  let  him 
be  God.  The  challenge  is  accepted — the  priests 


L 


122 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 


of  Baal  take  their  bullock,  and  lay  it  on  the  altar 
in  the  mode  prescribed — and  from  morning  till 
noon  “  they  called  on  the  name  of  Baal,  saying, 
O  Baal,  hear  us !  But  there  was  no  voice,  nor 
any  that  answered ;  and  they  leaped  upon  the 
altar  that  was  made.”  Elijah  now  begins  to  taunt 
them — “  Cry  aloud ;  for  he  is  a  god  :  either  he  is 
talking,  or  he  is  pursuing,  or  he  is  in  a  jour¬ 
ney,  or  peradventure  he  sleepeth,  and  must  be 
awaked  ! !”  The  silly  prophets,  supposing  Elijah 
to  be  in  earnest,  began  to  cry  out  louder  than 
ever ;  and  not  content  with  this,  “  cut  themselves- 
with  knives  and  lancets,  till  the  blood  gushed  out 
upon  them.”  But  all  their  cries  could  not  wake 
Baal  out  of  his  sleep.  Mid-day  was  past,  and  still 
the  wished-for  fire  had  not  appeared.  They  con¬ 
tinued  prophesying  until  the  time  of  the  offering, 
of  the  evening  sacrifice,  but  there  was  still 
“  neither  voice,  nor  any  to  answer,  nor  any 
that  regarded.”  After  the  impotence  of  Baal 
had  been  fairly  exposed,  Elijah  calls  the  people,. 

*  4C  Come  near  unto  me.”  The  people  do  as  de¬ 
sired,  and  he  proceeds  to  repair  the  altar  of  the 
Lord  that  was  broken  down.  Having  taken- 


Elijah’s  Sacrifice, 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS.  123 


twelve  stones,  according  to  the  number  of  the 
tribes  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  he  builds  with  them 
an  altar  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  makes  a 
trench  round  about  it.  The  wood  and  the  bullock 
having  been  adjusted,  he  bids  them  fill  four  bar¬ 
rels  with  water,  and  pour  it  on  the  sacrifice  and 
on  the  wood.  This  is  repeated  again  and  again, 
until  the  altar  is  drenched,  and  the  trench  is  full 
of  water.  By  this  means  he  proves  that  he  does 
not  intend  to  deceive  them  by  any  fire  which  might 
have  been  secretly  prepared  under  the  altar. 
“  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  time  of  the  offering 
of  the  evening  sacrifice,  that  Elijah  the  prophet 
came  near,  and  said,  Lord  God  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  of  Israel,  let  it  be  known  this  day  that 
thou  art  God  in  Israel,  and  that  I  am  thy  servant, 
and  that  I  have  done  all  these  things  at  thy  word. 
Hear  me,  O  Lord,  hear  me ;  that  this  people  may 
know  that  thou  art  the  Lord  God,  and  that  thou 
hast  turned  their  heart  back  again.  Then  the 
fire  of  the  Lord  fell,  and  consumed  the  burnt 
sacrifice,  and  the  wood,  and  the  stones,  and  the 
dust,  and  licked  up  the  water  that  was  in  the 
trench.  And  when  all  the  people  saw  it,  they 


124  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 


PRIESTS  OF  BAAL. 

fell  on  their  faces  ;  and  they  said,  the  Lord,  he  is 
the  God  ;  the  Lord,  he  is  the  God  !  And  Elijah 
said  unto  them,  take  the  prophets  of  Baal ;  let  not 
one  of  them  escape.  And  they  took  them  ;  and 

Elijah  brought  them  down  to  the  brook  Kishon, 
and  slew  them  there.”  (1  Kings,  xviii.) 

The  priests  of  JBaal  and  of  other  idols  were 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS.  125 


called  Camarim,  (corresponding  to  the  Black 
friars  of  the  Papists,)  because,  instead  of  being 
arrayed  in  white,  like  the  priests  of  the  Lord, 
they  were  clothed  in  black.  They  had  a  house 
appropriated  to  the  keeping  of  their  vestments. 
(2  Kings,  x.  22.)  “  I  will  also  stretch  out  mine 
hand  upon  Judah,  and  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem ;  and  I  will  cut  off  the  remnant  of  Baal 
from  this  place,  and  the  name  of  the  Chemarims 
with  the  priests.”  (Zeph.  i.  4 ;  Coll.  Hos.  x.  5 ; 
2  Kings,  xxiii.  5.) 

The  name  of  Baal  was  actually  applied  to  Je¬ 
hovah,  and  in  view  of  this  circumstance,  the  pro¬ 
phet  Hosea  was  commissioned  to  say  to  Israel — 
u  And  it  shall  be  at  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  that 
thou  shalt  call  me  Ishi,  (my  husband) ;  and  shall 
call  me  no  more  Baali,  (my  lord).”  It  was  for  this 
reason,  that  the  image  of  this  divinity  is  called 
“  the  image  of  jealousy,  which  provoketh  to 
jealousy.”  The  Lord  represents  himself  as  pro¬ 
voked  to  jealousy  against  Israel,  like  a  husband 
against  an  unfaithful  and  adulterous  wife.  Ma- 
nasseh  had  set  up  the  images  of  Baal  and  other 
idols  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord.  “  He  set  a  graven 

l  2 


126  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 

image  of  the  grove  he  had  made,  in  the  house,  of 
which  the  Lord  said  to  David,  and  to  Solomon 
his  son,  “  In  this  house  and  in  Jerusalem,  which 
I  have  chosen  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  will 

1  put  my  name  forever.”  (2  Kings,  xxi.  7,  and 

2  Chron.  xxxiii.  3.)  “  The  children  of  Judah 

have  done  evil  in  my  sight,  saith  the  Lord :  they 
have  set  their  abominations  in  the  house  which  is 
called  by  my  name  to  pollute  it.”  Good  king  Josiah 
destroyed  these  abominations,  (2  Chron.  xxxiv. 
4,)  but  his  successors  restored  them,  (2  Kings, 
xxiii.  37,  and  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  12.) 

Baal  was  associated  with  various  surnames — 
e.  g.  Baal-Zebub,  Baal-Samen,  Baal-Peor,  Baal- 
Berith,  Baal-Zephon — the  last  named  was  men¬ 
tioned  among  the  Egyptian  idols ;  of  the  rest  we 
shall  speak  when  we  treat  of  the  deities  of  the 
different  nations  who  worshipped  them. 

Baal-Samen,  “  the  lord  of  heaven,”  was  an 
idol  of  the  Phoenicians,  corresponding  to  the  Jupi- 
ter-Olympius  of  the  Grecians.  It  was  to  the  image 
of  this  pretended  deity,  that  Antiochus  consecrated 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  caused  a  statue  to 
be  placed  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings ;  of  which  . 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS.  127 


we  read  in  the  books  of  the  Maccabees  :  “  Now, 
the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month,  Cisleu,  in  the  one 
hundred  forty  and  fifth  year,  they  set  up  the 
abomination  of  desolation  upon  the  altar,  and 
builded  idol-altars  throughout  the  cities  of  Judah 
on  every  side.”  (1  Macc.  i.  54.) 

And  again — “Not  long  after  this,  the  king  sent 
an  old  man  of  Athens  to  compel  the  Jews  to  de¬ 
part  from  the  laws  of  their  fathers,  and  not  to  live 
after  the  laws  of  God :  and  to  pollute  also  the 
temple  in  Jerusalem,  and  to  call  it  the  temple  of 
Jupiter-Olympius;  and  that  in  Garizim,  of  Jupiter, 
the  Defender  of  strangers,”  &c.  (2  Macc.  vi. 
1,2.) 

Baal-Zebub,  “  the  lord  of  flies,”  was  another 
Phoenician  divinity,  the  images  of  which  were  made 
with  heads,  representing  a  fly.  The  Syrians  were 
accustomed  to  compose  their  idols  of  the  human 
form  and  that  of  some  inferior  animal.  In  order 
to  cast  reproach  upon  this  idol-god,  it  was  some¬ 
times  called  by  the  Jews,  Beel-Zebub,  “  lord  of 
uncleanness.”  The  proper  appellation,  however, 
was  Baal-Zebuch,  or  Baal-Zebuchim,  “  the  lord 
of  sacrifices  ;”  but,  in  derision,  the  Jews  termed 


128 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 


it,  sometimes  Baal-Zebub,  and  sometimes  Beel- 
Zebub.  In  all  probability,  Pluto,  the  god  of  the 
infernal  regions,  who  was  worshipped  by  the 
Phoenicians,  was  synonymous  with  Beelzebub,  or 
the  devil.  In  the  New  Testament  he  is  called  the 
'prince  of  devils.  He  presided  over  the  infernal 
river,  Acheron,  a  name  derived  apparently  from 
the  city  of  Accaron,  or  Ekron,  where  Pluto  or 
Beel-Zebub  was  adored  with  distinguished  honours. 
Hence  the  oracle  of  Baal-Zebub  at  Ekron,  which 
king  Ahaziah  consulted,  after  (2  Kings,  i.  2,)  be¬ 
ing  injured  by  a  fall  through  a  lattice  in  his  upper 
chamber,  was  none  other  than  the  temple  conse¬ 
crated  to  Pluto,  in  which  necromancy  was  prac¬ 
tised  by  such  characters  as  Saul  employed.  (1 
Sam.  xxviii.  8-11.) 

It  is  not  difficult  to  account  for  the  name  of 
Baal-Zebub.  Flies  and  vermin  in  general  were 
regarded  as  among  the  greatest  plagues  of  the 
East,  and  the  former  were  peculiarly  objects  of 
dislike,  because  they  sucked  up  the  blood  of  vic¬ 
tims  offered  to  the  gods.  According  to  pagan 
theology,  this  inconvenience  or  nuisance  was  at¬ 
tributed  to  the  agency  of  some  deity,  who  of 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 


12$ 


course  had  power  also  to  remedy  the  evil ;  and 
none  could  be  found  more  likely  than  Pluto,  the 
author  of  all  evil,  and  the  ruler  of  hell.  It  is 
true,  nevertheless,  that  the  Greeks  had  a  distinct 
deity,  whose  business  it  was  to  drive  away  the 
flies,  whom  they  worshipped  as  Jupiter-Apo- 
mu’ios. 

Ashtakoth,  or  Asiitoreth,  was  a  goddess  wor¬ 
shipped  by  the  Sidonians.  It  is  related  of  Solo¬ 
mon  that  he  went  after  Ashtaroth,  the  goddess  of 
the  Zidonians,  and  after  Milcom,  (or  Moloch,)  the 
abomination  of  the  Ammonites.  (1  Kings,  v.  33.) 
Compare  also,  2  Kings,  xxiii.  13  ;  Judges,  ii.  13, 
and  x.  6 ;  1  Sam.  vii.  3,  4,  xii.  10,  and  xxxi.  10. 
She  is  the  same  as  Astarte,  or  Venus  Urania,  so 
often  mentioned  by  profane  writers.  Ashtaroth 
was  known  to  the  Egyptians,  and  worshipped  by 
them  under  the  name  of  Tsurot,  from  which  the 
Hebrews  derived  Ashtaroth,  meaning  “  herds,” 
or  “  flocks,” — hence,  its  images  had  the  head  of 
a  sheep. 

Diana,  (or  the  moon,)  was  also  worshipped 
under  the  name  of  Astarte,  or  Astroarche, 
i.  e.  “queen  of  heaven.”  The  Israelitish  women 


130  IDOL-GODS  OF  TIIE  PHOENICIANS. 

brought  offerings  of  cakes  (Jer.  vii.  18,)  to  the 
queen  of  heaven,  in  order  to  conciliate  her  good 
will  and  insure  favourable  weather,  (Jer.  xliv.  17, 
19,)  so  that  the  fruits  of  the  field  might  be  abun¬ 
dant.  Groves  and  well-watered  places  were  the 
favourite  resorts  of  her  worshippers ;  and  to  this 
circumstance  the  name  Aschera,  or  Ascheroth, 
by  which  she  is  also  designated,  may  be  attri¬ 
buted.  “  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  evil  in 
the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  forgot  the  Lord  their 
God,  and  served  Baalim  and  the  groves,”  or 
Ascheroth.  (Judges,  iii.  7.  Compare  Judges,  ii. 
13;  1  Kings,  xvi.  31,  32;  2  Kings,  xxi.  3,  7.) 
The  temple  of  this  idol  was  known  as  the  house 
of  Ashtaroth,  in  which  the  Philistines  deposited 
as  a  trophy,  the  coat  of  mail  and  weapons  of  king 
Saul.  (1  Sam.  xxxi.  10.) 

The  festivals  of  Astarte,  or  Ashtaroth,  were 
carnivals  of  licentiousness — the  utmost  indecency 
and  profligacy  were  practised,  and  not  one  of  the 
abominations  into  which  Israel  was  decoyed, 
was  more  hateful  to  Jehovah  than  the  worship  of 
Baal  and  “  the  groves.”  At  a  later  period  than 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS.  131 


that,  in  which  allusions  are  made  in  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament  to  this  goddess,  various  rites  and  ceremo¬ 
nies,  borrowed  from  Jewish  customs,  were  intro¬ 
duced  into  her  worship. 


132  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  MOABITES,  MIDI  ANITES, 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  MOABITES,  MIDI  ANITES,  SE- 
CHEMITES,  AMMONITES,  AND  PHILISTINES. 

Baal-Peoe,  or  Peor,  from  the  mountain  of 
that  name,  towards  the  wilderness,  (Numb,  xxiii. 
28,)  was  worshipped  by  the  Moabites  and  Midian- 
ites. — “  Israel  joined  himself  unto  Baal-Peor : 
and  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against 
Israel.”  (Numb.  xxv.  3.)  For  this  cause,  the 
Lord  says  to  Moses,  in  the  17th  and  18th  verses, 
“  Vex  the  Midianites,  and  smite  them  :  for  they 
vex  you  with  their  wiles,  wherewith  they  have 
beguiled  you  in  the  matter  of  Peor,”  &c.  The 
temple  of  this  idol  is  called  the  house  of  Peor. 
(Deut.  iii.  29.)  It  was  a  vile  thing,  of  hideous 
form,  and  the  most  horrible  rites  were  performed 
in  its  service.  (Hosea,  ix.  10  ;  Ps.  cvi.  28  ;  Coll. 
Numb.  xxv.  1-3.) 

Some  have  supposed,  and  apparently  with  very 


iECIIEMITES,  AMMONITES,  AND  PHILISTINES.  133 


BAAL-PEOR,  OR  PRIAPUS. 

good  reason,  that  Baal-Peor,  and  the  Roman 
Priapus,  were  the  same ;  also,  that  it  is  synony¬ 
mous  with  Miplezeth,  in  honour  of  which,  king 
Asa’s  mother,  or  rather  grandmother,  Maecha, 
had  instituted  in  a  grove,  shameful  ceremonies, 
over  which  she  presided,  similar  to  the  filthy 
M 


1  34  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  MOABITES,  MIDIANITES, 

rites  practised  at  the  worship  of  Venus.  Asa  re¬ 
moved  her  from  being  queen,  and  cut  down  her 
idol.  (2  Chron.  xv.  16.)  The  literal  meaning  of 
Miplezeth  is,  “  an  image  of  terror,”  implying 
that  all  servants  of  the  true  God  might  well  be 
terrified  at  its  horrible  worship.  Idols  in  general 
are  termed,  in  Scripture,  an  abomination.  The 
heathen  themselves  worshipped  them  with  fear 
and  trembling,  as  they  well  might,  who  were  un¬ 
der  the  spirit  of  bondage. 

Chamos,  or  Chemosh,  was  the  principal  god 
of  the  Moabites,  who  are  therefore  termed  the 
people  of  Chemosh.  (Numb.  xxi.  29  ;  Jer.  xlvii.  7, 
13,  46.)  Solomon  consecrated  a  temple  to  this 
idol  also,  (1  Kings,  xi.  7;  and  2  Kings,  xxiii.  13,) 
near  Jerusalem.  The  ceremonies  observed  at  its 
worship  appear  to  have  been  similar  to  the  rites 
practised  in  honour  of  Baal-Peor  ;  though  others 
suppose  that  Chamos  corresponded  to  the  Roman 
Bacchus,  the  god  of  wine. 

Baal-Berith  was  an  idol  of  the  Sechemites, 
who  built  a  temple  to  promote  its  worship.  After 
the  death  of  Gideon,  the  Judge  of  Israel,  who  so 
valorously  freed  her  from  the  yoke  of  her  op- 


SECIIEMITES,  AMMONITES,  AND  PHILISTINES.  135 

pressors,  and  zealously  served  Jehovah,  the  peo¬ 
ple  of  God  went  after  Baalim,  and  made  Baal-Be- 
rith  their  god.  (Judges,  viii.  33.)  Mention  is  made 
of  this  idol-god,  in  connexion  with  the  history  of 
Israel  in  Judges,  ix.  4,  where  it  is  said  that  the 
men  of  Shechem  gave  Abimelech  three  score 
and  ten  pieces  of  silver  out  of  the  house  of  Baal- 
Berith,  to  assist  him  in  the  prosecution  of  his  am¬ 
bitious  purposes.  This  generosity,  Abimelech 
soon  gave  them  cause  to  regret,  for,  owing  to  a 
quarrel  which  ensued  between  him  and  the  Shee- 
hemites,  he  fought  against  their  city,  and  having 
forced  the  outer  walls,  drove  the  inhabitants  be¬ 
fore  him  with  terrible  slaughter,  compelling  the 
survivors  to  take  refuge  in  the  hold  of  the  house 
of  their  god,  Baal-Berith,  (verse  46.)  Abimelech 
set  fire  to  the  building,  and  thus  destroyed  those 
who  had  fled  to  it  for  protection. 

The  meaning  of  Baal-Berith  is  “  lord  of  cove¬ 
nants,”  similar  to  the  “  Zeus  horkios”  of  the 
Greeks,  or  the  Jove,  who  was  invoked  when  any 
thing  was  to  be  ratified  by  an  oath.  Calmet  thinks 
that  Baal-Berith  was  the  same  as  Dagon,  the 
chief  divinity  of  the  Philistines. 


136  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  MOABITES,  MIDIANITES, 

Moloch,  also  Malcom,  (Zeph.  i.  5,)  or  Milcom, 
(1  Kings,  xi.  33,  2  Kings,  xxiii.  14,)  likewise 
called  Adrammelech  and  Anammelech,  among 
the  Samarians,  (2  Kings,  xvii.  31,)  means  a  king, 
(Amos,  v.  26,  Acts,  vii.  43,)  and  is  therefore  re¬ 
garded  by  some  as  the  same  as  Baal,  (Jer.  xix.  5, 
and  xxxii.  35,)  and  as  representing  the  Sun,  which 
was  called  king  of  the  stars.  The  worship  of 
Moloch  is  forbidden  under  terrible  penalties.  (Lev. 
xviii.  21,  and  xx.  2,  5.) 

Solomon  worshipped  Moloch  among  the  idols 
whom  he  set  up  as  his  gods,  (1  Kings,  xi.  7.) 
Jehovah,  through  his  prophet  Jeremiah,  complains 
that  his  covenant  people  had  “  built  the  high  places 
of  Baal,  which  are  in  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Hin- 
non,  to  cause  their  sons  and  their  daughters  to 
pass  through  the  fire  to  Moloch,  which  I  com¬ 
manded  them  not ;  neither  came  it  into  my  mind, 
that  they  should  do  this  abomination,  to  cause 
Judah  to  sin.”  (Jer.  xxxii.  35.) 

The  passage  in  Jeremiah,  xix.  5,  to  which  allu¬ 
sion  was  made  on  a  preceding  page,  appears  still 
further  to  confirm  the  opinion  that  Moloch  was 
the  Baal  of  the  Ammonites,  and  essentially  the 


SECHEMITES,  AMMONITES,  AND  PHILISTINES.  137 

same  as  that  idol.  “  They  have  built,  also,  the 
high  places  of  Baal,  to  bum  their  sons  with  fire 
for  burnt-offerings  unto  Baal,  which  I  commanded 
not,  nor  spake  it,  neither  came  it  into  my  mind.” 

The  planet  Mars  is  said  to  have  been  the  Mo¬ 
loch  of  the  Egyptians.  It  is  reckoned  among  the 
idols  of  the  Canaanites  :  “  They  sacrificed  their 
sons  and  their  daughters  unto  devils,  and  shed 
innocent  blood,  even  the  blood  of  their  sons  and 
their  daughters,  whom  they  sacrificed  to  the  idols 
of  Canaan,”  &c.  (Ps.  cvi.  38.)  Here,  there  is 
an  evident  allusion  to  Moloch.  This  idol  was, 
however,  more  especially  the  god  of  the  Ammon¬ 
ites,  and  is  expressly  called  “  the  abomination  of 
the  children  of  Ammon.”  (1  Kings,  xi.  7.)  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  most  authentic  accounts,  its  image 
was  a  brazen  statue,  with  the  head  of  an  ox,  high 
horns,  and  extended  hands,  as  though  it  were 
reaching  out  for  something,  which  was  offered  or 
promised  to  it.  In  honour  of  this  vile  thing,  its 
idolatrous  worshippers  caused  their  children  to 
pass  through  the  fire,  ostensibly  with  a  view  to 
purify  them.  The  priest,  or  else  the  father  of 
the  child,  led  it  barefoot  over  a  blazing  pile :  if 

m  2 


1S8  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  MOABITES,  MIDIANITES, 

« 

the  poor  victim  survived,  it  was  pronounced  to  be 
purified ;  but  if,  as  usually  happened,  the  wretch¬ 
ed  sufferer  perished  in  the  flames,  prosperity  and 
happiness  were  promised  as  the  certain  reward  of 
the  parents.  Others  burnt  and  sacrificed  their 
offspring  by  placing  them  in  the  fiery  arms  of 
the  monster,  made  red-hot  by  means  of  a  furnace 
at  the  base  of  the  image.  The  piteous  outcries  of 
the  unhappy  children  were  the  signal  for  drums 
to  beat  and  trumpets  to  sound,  lest  the  screams 
of  their  burning  offspring  might  waken  up  the 
sleeping  pity  of  their  unnatural  and  deluded  pa¬ 
rents.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  they  could 
possibly  be  reconciled  to  this  barbarous  immola¬ 
tion  of  their  children.  The  mind  sickens  at  the 
thought  of  the  deep  degradation,  to  which  these 
wretched  idolaters  must  have  sunk,  before  they 
could  find  motive  sufficient  to  induce  them  to 
consent  to  the  horrid  sacrifice,  in  the  assurance 
of  the  priests,  that  their  remaining  children  would 
be  blessed  with  long  life  and  prosperity,  and  that 
their  private  loss  would  prove  the  public  gain. 

It  appears  from  Amos,  v.  26,  and  Acts,  vii. 
43,  that  Moloch  was  sometimes  drawn  on  a  cha- 


SECHEMITES,  AMMONITES,  AND  PHILISTINES.  139 


DAGON. 


riot  through  the  streets,  or  carried  about  in  a 
tabernacle,  with  great  pomp.  Solomon  built  a 
temple  to  this  idol,  and  the  Israelites  worshipped 
it  in  the  valley  of  Gehinnom,  also  called  Tophet , 
a  “  drum”  from  the  use  made  of  this  instrument 
at  the  festivals  of  Moloch.  (Jer.  vii.  21.) 

Daoon  was  the  great  idol  of  the  Philistines, 


140  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  MOABITES,  MIDIANITES, 

corresponding  to  the  Neptune  of  other  heathen 
nations.  Dagon  was  worshipped  as  the  deity 
who  presided  over  fishing  and  navigation,  and  its 
images,  according  to  the  traditions  of  the  Rab¬ 
bins,  were  made  in  the  figure  of  a  mermaid ;  the 
upper  part  being  like  the  human  form,  and  the 
lower  part  like  a  fish.  This  may  be  accounted 
for,  from  the  circumstance  of  the  Philistines 
dwelling  near  the  sea,  and  worshipping  fishes  as 
gods.  There  were  splendid  temples  of  this  idol  at 
Askelon,  Gath,  Gaza,  and  particularly  at  Ashdod. 
This  house  was  burnt  during  the  wars  of  the 
Maccabees,  by  the  Jewish  leader  Jonathan.  It 
was  to  Ashdod  that  the  ark  of  the  covenant  was 
brought  in  triumph  by  the  Philistines,  after  their 
victory  over  Israel,  and  placed  before  Dagon  as 
a  trophy,  as  though  won  through  the  help  and  in¬ 
fluence  of  this  idol.  But  God  vindicated  his  own 
glory,  and  Dagon  fell  prostrate  and  broken  before 
the  ark  of  Jehovah.  “  And  when  they  of  Ashdod 
arose  early  on  the  morrow,  behold,  Dagon  was 
fallen  upon  his  face  to  the  earth  before  the  ark  of 
the  Lord.  And  they  took  Dagon,  and  set  him  in 
his  place  again.  And  when  they  arose  early  on 


SECHEMITES,  AMMONITES,  AND  PHILISTINES.  141 

the  morrow-morning,  behold,  Dagon  was  fallen 
upon  his  face  to  the  ground  before  the  ark  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  the  head  of  Dagon,  and  both  the  palms 
of  his  hands,  were  cut  off  upon  the  threshold  ; 
only  the  stump  of  Dagon  was  left  to  him.”  (1 
Sam.  3-5.)  It  was  to  the  temple  of  Dagon  at 
Gaza  that  the  Philistines  repaired  “  to  offer  a 
great  sacrifice,  and  to  rejoice ;  for  they  said,  our 
god  hath  delivered  Samson,  our  enemy,  into  our 
hand.”  (Judges,  xvi.  23.)  This  building  must 
have  been  very  large,  since  Samson,  after  tearing 
away  the  pillars,  which  supported  it,  buried  under 
its  ruins  more  than  three  thousand  men.  The 
head  of  Saul  was  also  placed  in  one  of  the  tem¬ 
ples  of  this  god.  We  read  in  the  first  book  of 
Samuel,  that  after  the  great  discomfiture  sus¬ 
tained  by  the  Israelites  from  the  Philistines,  when 
the  conquerors  “  came  to  strip  the  slain,  they 
found  Saul  and  his  three  sons  fallen  in  Mount 
Gilboa.  And  they  cut  off  his  head,  and  stripped 
off  his  armour,  and  sent  in  the  land  of  the  Philis¬ 
tines  to  publish  it  in  the  house  of  their  idols,  and 
among  the  people.  And  they  put  his  armour  in 
the  house  of  Ashtaroth.”  (1  Sam.  xxxi.  10.)  This 


142  IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  MOABITES,  &C. 

latter  quotation  is  a  sufficient  proof  that  Dagon 
and  Ashtaroth,  which  have  sometimes  been  con¬ 
founded,  were  distinct  deities.  At  Joppa,  this  idol 
was  known  as  Derceto.  It  is  not  improbable,  as 
pagan  theology  gives  Neptune  his  Amphitrite  to 
share  in  his  liquid  empire,  that  the  Dagon  of 
Gaza  and  Ashdod  corresponded  to  Neptune,  and 
Derceto  of  Joppa  to  Amphitrite.  In  some  other 
places  this  false  god  was  called  Atargatis,  and  its 
temples  Atargation.  Maccabeus  slew  twenty-five 
thousand  men  at  the  temple  of  Atargatis.  (2 
Macc.  xii.  26.) 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  SYRIANS. 


143 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  SYRIANS. 

\  , 

The  Syrians  had  many  gods,  of  which  frequent 
mention  is  incidently  made  in  Scripture.  We 
read  of  the  ungodly  king  Ahaz,  that,  “  in  the 
time  of  his  distress,  he  sacrificed  to  the  gods  of 
Damascus,  which  smote  him ;  and  he  said,  be¬ 
cause  the  gods  of  the  kings  of  Syria  help  them, 
therefore,  will  I  sacrifice  to  them,  that  they  may 
help  me.”  (2  Chron.  xxviii.  22,  23.)  The  Sun 
was  the  principal  object  of  their  worship,  and 
was  adored  at  Hemath,  under  the  name  of  Asima, 
or  “  the  fire  of  heaven at  Ava,  it  was  called 
Nibchaz,  or  “  the  swift  god,”  and  Tartak,  “  the 
chariot  of  the  Sun.”  “  The  Avites  made  Nibhaz 
and  Tartak,  and  the  Sepharvites  burnt  their  child¬ 
ren  in  fire  to  Adrammelech  and  Anammelech, 
the  gods  of  Sepharvaim.”  (2  Kings,  xvii.  31.) 
At  Damascus,  the  god  Rimmon,  or  the  Sun,  had  a 


144 


IDOL-GODS  OF  TIIE  SYRIANS. 


famous  temple.  The  signification  of  Rimmon  is, 
“  that  which  comes  from  above.”  (2  Kings,  v. 
18.)  The  passage  reads  thus  :  “  In  this  thing  the 
Lord  pardon  thy  servant,  that  when  my  master 
goeth  into  the  house  of  Rimmon  to  worship  there, 
and  he  leaneth  on  my  hand,  and  I  bow  myself  in 
the  house  of  Rimmon ;  when  I  bow  down  myself 
in  the  house  of  Rimmon,  the  Lord  pardon  thy 
servant  in  this  thing.  And  Elisha  said  unto  him, 
go  in  peace.”  This  Scripture  has  been  too  often 
distorted  and  wrested  from  its  true  meaning,  for 
us  to  pass  it  over  without  a  word  of  explanation. 
Some  have  argued  from  this  passage  that  a  man 
may  be  placed  under  such  peculiar  circumstances 
that  he  may  have  license  to  commit  sin.  This  is 
a  fearful  delusion.  Naaman  did  not  ask  leave  to 
worship  Rimmon.  On  the  contrary,  he  had  ex¬ 
pressly  declared,  that  he  would  “  henceforth  offer 
neither  burnt-offering  nor  sacrifice  unto  other 
gods,  but  unto  the  Lord.”  If  he  had  made  any 
such  request,  the  prophet  of  the  Lord  never 
would  have  said,  “Go,  in  peace;”  for,  “there 
is  no  peace  to  the  wicked”  idolater,  “  saith  my 
God.”  Elisha  was  not  a  dauber  with  untem- 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  SYKIANS. 


145 


*. 


pered  mortar;  and  he  had  too  much  of  the  spirit 
of  his  station,  ever  to  encourage  or  connive  at 
idolatry.  All  that  Naaman  asked  was  this : — 
As  a  chief  officer  of  the  king  of  Syria,  it  was  his 
duty  to  support  his  royal  master,  who,  according 
to  Eastern  custom,  was  in  the  habit  of  leaning 
upon  his  favourites,  whenever  he  took  part  in 
any  public  ceremony.  Naaman  was  the  king’s 
servant :  as  such,  his  master  had  a  right,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  usages  of  that  country,  to  lean 
upon  him.  Naaman  asked  for  permission  to 
“  abide  in  his  calling  with  God.”  It  was  granted  : 
“  Go,  in  peace.”  Besides,  it  will  be  remembered, 
we  live  in  a  day  of  greater  light  and  knowledge 
than  he ;  and  even  if  it  be  admitted,  that  Naaman 
showed  more  anxiety  to  preserve  his  temporal 
station  and  dignity  than  might  be  tolerated  in  a 
sincere  disciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  our  day, 
since  Christ  by  his  death  “  has  purified  us  to 
himself  a  peculiar  people,”  the  Apostle’s  de¬ 
claration  meets  this  objection — “  The  time  of 
former  ignorance  God  winked  at,  but  now  com- 
mandeth  all  men  every  where  to  repent.”  “  A 


146 


ID0L-G0D3  OF  THE  SYRIANS. 


bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break,  and  the  smoking 
flax  shall  he  not  quench.” 

Thamus,  or  Tammutz,  according  to  some,  is 
the  Syrian  god  Adonis,  whom  the  poets  feigned 
to  have  been  the  paramour  of  Venus.  She  be¬ 
wailed  his  untimely  end,  (he  having  been  killed, 
whilst  hunting,  by  a  wild  boar,)  and  changed  him 
into  a  beautiful  flower,  the  anemone.  In  order  to 
testify  their  grief  for  his  death,  people  of  dissolute 
habits  of  both  sexes,  made  great  lamentations  at 
the  festivals  of  Venus,  accompanied  by  a  band,  who 
performed  a  funeral  dirge  in  honour  of  Thamus.  On 
the  day  succeeding  this  exhibition,  they  manifest¬ 
ed  the  most  extravagant  demonstrations  of  joy,  as 
though  they  were  celebrating  his  restoration  to  life. 
Others  have  supposed  that  the  Egyptian  god  Osi¬ 
ris,  the  spouse  of  Isis,  was  the  same  as  Thamus ; 
and  the  story  of  Osiris  having  been  slain  by  Ty- 
phon,  and  lamented  by  Isis  and  the  Egyptians, 
would  appear  to  sustain  this  theory.  The  dif¬ 
ference  in  the  name  admits  of  a  ready  explana- 
tion.  Osiris  was  also  called  Ammutz  by  the 
Egyptians,  and  from  this  Thamutz  may  readily 
be  derived.  The  abominable  and  obscene  cere- 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  SYRIANS. 


147 


monies  which  were  practised  at  the  festivals  of 
both  Osiris  and  Thamutz,  show  that  these  deities 
were  closely  allied,  if  not  one  and  the  same.  The 
Israelites  having  witnessed  such  scenes  among 
the  Egyptians,  introduced  them  into  the  temple 
and  worship  of  the  Lord.  King  Josiah  purified 
Israel  of  this  abomination.  “  Fie  brake  dowrn 
the  houses  of  the  Sodomites,  that  were  by  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  where  the  women  wove  hang¬ 
ings  for  the  grove.”  (2  Kings,  xxiii.  7.) 

Gad  and  Meni  were  two  Syrian  deities, 
which,  according  to  Luther,  corresponded  to  the 
idols  Mars  and  Mercury,  worshipped  by  the  Greeks 
and  Romans.  (Is.  lxv.  11.)  “But  ye  are  they 
that  forsake  the  Lord,  that  forget  my  holy  moun¬ 
tain,  that  prepare  a  table  for  Gad,  and  that  fur¬ 
nish  a  drink-offering  to  Meni.”  In  our  version, 
Gad  is  translated  “  that  troop,”  and  Meni,  “  that 
number.”  Others  derive  the  word  from  an  old 
Arabic  root,  and  regard  Gad  as  the  same  with 
Apollo,  i.  e.  the  Sun,  which  we  have  already 
shown  to  have  been  the  principal  god  of  many 
heathen  nations. 

Meni  represents  the  Moon,  to  which  meat  and 


148 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  SYRIANS. 


drink-offerings  were  brought,  to  secure  fair 
weather.  After  the  Lord  had  told  Jeremiah  that 
he  would  not  hear  him  in  behalf  of  Israel,  and  that 
the  prophet  should,  therefore,  “  not  pray,  nor  lift 
up  cry,  nor  make  intercession”  to  him,  he  gives 
the  reason  of  this  interdict.  “  Seest  thou  not 
what  they  do  in  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  in  the 
streets  of  Jerusalem  ?  The  children  gather  wood, 
and  the  fathers  kindle  the  fire,  and  the  women 
knead  their  dough,  to  make  cakes  to  the  queen  of 
heaven,  and  to  pour  out  drink-offerings  unto  other 
gods,  that  they  may  provoke  me  to  anger.”  (Jer. 
vii.  17,  18.)  In  a  subsequent  chapter  we  have 
the  answer  which  the  wicked  men,  whom  Jere¬ 
miah  had  reproved  on  account  of  their  idolatry, 
returned  to  him ;  which  has  a  direct  reference  to 
the  custom  of  making  offerings  to  the  moon. 
“  As  for  the  word  which  thou  hast  spoken  unto 
us  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  we  will  not  hearken 
unto  thee :  but  we  will  certainly  do  whatsoever 
thing  goeth  out  of  our  mouth,  to  burn  incense  to 
the  queen  of  heaven,  and  to  pour  out  drink-offer¬ 
ings  unto  her,  as  we  have  done,  we,  and  our 
fathers,  our  kings,  and  our  princes,  in  the  cities 


IDOL-GODS  OF  THE  SYRIANS. 


149 


of  Judah,  and  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem :  for 
then  had  we  plenty  of  victuals,  and  were  well, 
and  saw  no  evil.  But  since  we  left  off  to  burn 
incense  to  the  queen  of  heaven,  and  to  pour  out 
drink-offerings  unto  her,  we  have  wanted  all 
things,  and  have  been  consumed  by  the  sword 
and  by  the  famine.  And  when  we  burnt  incense 
to  the  queen  of  heaven,  and  poured  out  drink- 
offerings  unto  her,  did  we  make  her  cakes  to  wor¬ 
ship  her,  without  our  men  ?”  (or,  husbands .)  The 
ancient  German  words,  “gade”  and  “  maen,”  the 
former  of  which  means  God,  and  the  latter,  moon, 
seem  to  corroborate  the  explanation  given  above 
of  the  names  Gad  and  Meni. 


150  THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME, 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME. 

Among  all  the  superstitious  nations  of  antiqui¬ 
ty,  Greece  claims  an  unenviable  precedence,  as 
the  home  and  the  workshop  of  idolatry.  No 
people  under  the  sun  had  more  fables  concerning 
the  origin  and  genealogy  of  the  gods,  current 
among  them  than  they.  Their  poets,  particularly 
Homer  and  Hesiod,  reduced  the  vain  and  silly 
traditions  of  their  mythology  to  a  kind  of  system, 
and  ascribed  to  the  different  deities  their  peculiar 
names,  offices,  arts,  rank,  and  exploits ;  among 
which  latter,  some  very  disreputable  actions  were 
included.  The  number  of  gods  in  Greece  was 
about  three  thousand  ;  these  were  arranged  under 
the  two  principal  divisions  of  primary  and  se¬ 
condary  divinities ;  the  latter  of  which  were  wor¬ 
shipped  as  particularly  superintending  human 
affairs,  and  as  the  ministers,  or  ambassadors,  of 

\ 


THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME.  151 


the  superior  deities.  It  is  barely  possible  to  dis¬ 
cern  through  this  dark  and  confused  theory,  the 
outlines  of  the  original  from  which  it  was  bor¬ 
rowed  ;  but  there  cannot  be  much  doubt,  that  this 
fundamental  point  in  their  theology,  was  derived 
from  a  vague  and  distorted  notion  of  the  a  ngels. 
This  immense  host  of  false  gods  was  subdivided 
into  celestial,  terrestrial,  marine,  and  infernal 
deities.  We  will  briefly  mention  the  names  and 
offices  of  the  most  distinguished. 

The  chief  of  the  celestial  gods  were — 

1.  Jupiter,  or  Jove,  called  Zeus  by  the 
Greeks,  and  worshipped  as  the  Great  Supreme, 
the  king  of  gods  and  men.  He  was  called  the 
son  of  Saturn  and  Cybele,  or  Rhea,  and  was 
fabled  to  have  been  saved  from  the  jaws  of  his 
father  by  a  stratagem  of  Rhea,  who  substituted  a 
stone  for  the  infant  Jupiter  ;  Saturn  having  swal¬ 
lowed  it,  she  concealed  her  son  on  Mount  Ida  in 
Crete.  The  name,  Jove,  is  probably  derived  from 
the  Hebrew  Jehovah. 

The  Grecians  represented  Jupiter  by  a  statue 
with  three  eyes ;  intimating  that  this  deity  ob¬ 
served  all  things  in  heaven,  earth,  and  hell ;  or 


152  THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME. 


that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  present,  past, 
and  future.  The  Romans  placed  his  image  on  a 
throne  of  ivory,  with  three  thunderbolts  in  his 
right  hand,  a  sceptre  in  his  left,  and  an  eagle  by 
his  side.  The  statue  of  Jupiter,  sculptured  by 
Phidias,  was  considered  one  of  the  seven  wonders 
of  the  world.  The  most  shameful  debaucheries 
were  ascribed  to  this  deity  by  the  ancient  poets 
and  historians. 

When  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  preaching  the 
gospel  at  Lystra,  in  Lycaonia,  they  met  with  a 
poor  cripple,  who  had  never  walked :  “  The  same 
heard  Paul  speak;  who  steadfastly  beholding  him, 
and  perceiving  that  he  had  faith  to  be  healed, 
said  with  a  loud  voice,  stand  upright  on  thy  feet. 
And  he  leaped  and  walked.  And  when  the  peo¬ 
ple  saw  what  Paul  had  done,  they  lifted  up  their 
voices,  saying  in  the  speech  of  Lycaonia,  the 
gods  are  come  down  to  us  in  the  likeness  of  men. 
And  they  called  Barnabas,  Jupiter ;  and  Paul, 
Mercurius,  because  he  was  the  chief  speaker.” 
(Acts,  xiv.  9-12.)  The  priest  of  Jupiter  and  the 
people  made  preparations  to  sacrifice  to  the  Apos¬ 
tles,  who  with  difficulty  dissuaded  their  idolatrous 


THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME.  153 


admirers  from  putting  their  purpose  into  execu- 
tion.  Jupiter  had  many  surnames — such,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  as  Ammon,  Belus,  Olympius,  Xenius,  i.  e. 
“  the  guardian  of  strangers.”  There  is  an  allusion 
to  this  deity  in  the  Apocrypha.  (2  Macc.  vi.  2.) 
The  wife  of  Jupiter  and  queen  of  the  gods,  was 
called  Juno. 

2.  Apollo,  or  the  Sun,  the  offspring  of  Jove 
and  Latona.  There  is  a  passage  in  Revelation, 
to  which  we  have  already  adverted,  in  which  Apol- 
lyon  is  spoken  of  as  “  the  angel  of  the  bottomless 
pit.”  (Rev.  ix.  11.)  The  meaning  of  Apollo  is, 
“  The  Destroyer ;”  this  god  was  so  named  from 
the  exploits  which  he  was  said  to  have  per¬ 
formed,  such  as  slaying  the  Pythian  giant  or  ser¬ 
pent,  &c.  Cicero  mentions  four  gods  of  this  name. 
( Vide  page  65.) 

3.  Diana,  the  Moon,  daughter  of  Jove  and 
twin-sister  of  Apollo,  was  worshipped  as  presiding 
over  births  and  fruitfulness.  She  was  worshipped 
as  the  goddess  of  the  chase,  fishing,  and  journeys, 
particularly  such  as  are  performed  during  the 
night  season.  Ephesus  was  the  place  in  which 
she  was  adored  with  the  greatest  honours,  and 


154  THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME. 


her  temple  was,  in  fact,  the  most  renowned  in  all 
Asia.  The  figure  in  the  plate  represents  the  sta¬ 
tue  of  the  Ephesian  Diana.  The  breasts  and  heads 
of  beasts,  with  which  she  is  covered,  are  emble¬ 
matical  of  the  fruitfulness  which  her  influence  was 
supposed  to  promote.  Diana  was  known  under 
three  names.  As  a  celestial  deity  she  was  called 
Phcebe;  as  a  terrestial  goddess,  Diana;  whilst  He¬ 
cate  was  the  appellation  under  which  she  was 
worshipped  as  one  of  the  deities  presiding  over  the 
infernal  regions.  The  temple  of  Diana,  at  Ephe¬ 
sus,  was  considered  one  of  the  wonders  of  the 
world.  All  the  provinces  of  Asia  Minor  contri¬ 
buted  for  upwards  of  200  years  towards  its  erec¬ 
tion.  There  were  in  it  420  pillars,  erected  by  as 
many  kings.  This  magnificent  building  was  de¬ 
stroyed  by  fire  in  the  106  Olymp.,  on  the  very 
day  that  Alexander  the  Great  was  born.  “  Diana 
of  the  Ephesians”  is  mentioned  in  the  book  of 
Acts,  in  an  interesting  connexion. 

The  preaching  of  Paul  had  been  attended  with 
the  demonstration  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  with 
power,  and  so  mightily  did  the  Word  of  God  grow 
and  prevail,  that  a  certain  Demetrius,  a  silver- 


THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME.  155 


smith,  who  had  made  a  living  by  manufacturing 
silver  shrines  for  Diana,  excited  first  his  fellow- 
craftsmen,  and  then  the  citizens  of  Ephesus,  against 
the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ ;  being  apprehensive, 
from  the  number  of  conversions,  that  he  would 
soon  be  left  without  employment ;  and  not  only  so, 
but  also,  “  that  the  temple  of  the  great  goddess  Di¬ 
ana  should  be  despised,  and  her  magnificence 
should  be  destroyed,  whom  all  Asia  and  the  world 
worshippeth.”  A  great  excitement  was  raised, 
and  the  rabble  assembled  in  the  streets,  crying  out, 
“  great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians!”  The  whole 
city  was  full  of  confusion,  and  the  lives  of  the  dis¬ 
ciples  were  in  great  jeopardy,  but  the  Lord  pre¬ 
served  them  in  a  remarkable  manner.  (Acts,  xix.) 

The  Persians  worshipped  Diana  under  the  name 
of  Zaretis,  and  her  temple  in  the  City  of  Elimais 
was  called  Zara,  which  Antiochus  Epiphanes  at¬ 
tempted  to  plunder,  but  was  defeated.  (1  Macc. 
vi.  1-4.) 

4.  Mars,  the  son  of  Jove  and  Juno,  was  the 
god  of  war,  and  according  to  Luther,  is  the  same 
with  Gad.  (Is.  Ixv.  11.) 

5.  Mercury,  the  son  of  Jove  and  Maia,  was 


156  THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME 


MERCURY. 


the  god  of  eloquence.  An  allusion  is  made  to  this 
in  Acts  xiv.  12,  where  it  is  said,  the  Lystrians 
called  Paul,  Mercury,  because  he  was  “the  chief 
speaker.”  This  god  was  worshipped  as  presiding 
also  over  merchants,  thieves,  &c.,  and  was  called 
the  messenger  of  the  gods.  Mercury,  who,  in  ad¬ 
dition  to  the  duties  assigned  him  as  the  servant  of 


THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME.  157 

the  gods,  was  fabled  to  have  been  the  conductor 
of  departed  souls  to  the  place  of  reward  and  pun¬ 
ishment,  was  usually  represented  as  a  young  man, 
with  wings  attached  to  his  ears  and  feet,  holding 

4 

in  his  hand  a  caduceus  or  staff,  around  which  ser¬ 
pents  are  entwined.  Luther  regards  Meni,  (Is. 
lxv.  11,)  as  being  the  same  idol. 

6.  Venus,  the  goddess  of  love  and  voluptuous 
debauchery,  was  worshipped  principally  at  Paphos 
in  Cyprus,  and  was  known  under  the  various  sur¬ 
names  of  Ashtaroth,  Astarte,  Mylitta,  Urania,  &c. 

7.  Saturn,  the  son  of  heaven  and  earth,  has 
been  spoken  of  in  connexion  with  Noah,  in  the 
chapter  on  the  “  Mythology  of  the  Heathen.” 

II.  The  principal  terrestrial  gods  were — 

1.  fEouus,  the  god  of  winds. 

„  2.  Ceres,  the  goddess  of  agriculture. 

3.  Janus,  who  presided  over  treaties. 

4.  Pales,  the  god  of  herds  and  pastures. 

5.  Pan,  a  god  of  shepherds  or  herdsmen,  and 
hunters.  This  deity  was  fabled  to  have  dwelt  in 
mountains  and  in  woods.  He  was  represented  as 
a  man  with  two  horns,  having  the  beard,  legs,  and 
tail  of  a  goat,  and  a  red  face,  alluding  probably 


o 


158  THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME. 


to  his  incessant  playing  on  the  flute,  which  instru¬ 
ment,  in  addition  to  a  shepherd’s  crook,  completed 
the  accoutrements  of  this  ridiculous  abomination* 

6.  Priapus,  who  presided  over  gardens,  was 
probably  the  same  as  Baal-Peor  of  the  Moabites. 

7.  Bacchus,  the  god  of  wine,  and  son  of  Jupiter 
and  Semele,  was  worshipped  with  ceremonies  call¬ 
ed  Bacchanalia,  which  consisted  in  inordinate  eat¬ 
ing,  drinking,  and  abominable  licentiousness.  We 
read  in  the  book  of  the  Maccabees,  among  the  per¬ 
secutions  which  the  Jews  were  compelled  to  under¬ 
go,  that,  “  in  the  day  of  the  king’s  birth,  they  were 
brought,  every  month,  by  bitter  constraint,  to  eat  of 
the  sacrifices  :  and  when  the  feast  of  Bacchus  was 
kept,  the  Jews  were  compelled  to  go  in  procession 
to  Bacchus,  carrying  ivy.”  More  than  a  distant 
allusion  seems  to  be  made  to  the  worship  of  Bac¬ 
chus,  by  the  prophet  Hosea,  when  he  says,  (iv. 
11,)  “whoredom  and  wine,  and  new  wine,  take 
away  the  heart.”  Cicero  mentions  six  deities  of 
this  name. 

8.  Vulcan,  the  son  of  Jove  and  Juno,  was 
worshipped  as  the  god  of  fire,  and  as  presiding 
over  blacksmiths,  &c. 


THE  IDOL-GODS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME.  159 


III.  The  principal  marine  deities  were  Neptune 
and  Amphitrite. 

IV.  The  chief  of  the  infernal  gods  was  Pluto, 
worshipped  by  the  Phosnicians  as  Beelzebub,  who 
is  called  in  Scripture  the  “  prince  of  devils.” 
(Matt.  xii.  24,  Mark  iii.  22,  Luke  xi.  15.)  As  the 
Greeks  were  anxious  to  adore  all  the  gods,  and 
were  fearful  of  offending  any  deity,  by  omitting 
his  name  or  worship,  they  erected  altars  to  the 
“  unknown  god.”  It  was  in  reference  to  this  that 
Paul  in  his  sermon  on  Mars-hill,  said  to  the  . 
Greeks:  “  Whom,  therefore,  ye  ignorantly  wor¬ 
ship,  him  declare  I  unto  you.”  (Acts  xvii.  23.) 

The  various  sects  of  philosophers  among  the 
Greeks,  promoted  idolatry  to  the  utmost  extent  of 
their  influence,  and  viewed  any  innovations  with 
a  jealous  eye ;  hence  the  enmity  which  the  Epicu¬ 
reans  and  Stoics  manifested  against  Paul,  of  whom 
some  said  :  “  What  will  this  babbler  say  ?” 

Others  :  “He  seemeth  to  be  a  setter  forth  of  strange 
gods  :  because  he  preached  unto  them  Jesus  and 
the  resurrection.”  (Acts,  xvii.  18.)  The  most 
noted  of  these  sects  were  the  Platonics,  Peripate¬ 
tics,  Stoics,  Epicureans,  and  Pythagoreans. 


160  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD. 

We  have  observed,  that  many  Jewish  rites  were 
borrowed  by  the  heathen  and  engrafted  upon  their 
false  religions ;  but  it  is  equally  true  on  the  other 
hand,  that  the  Israelites  learned  many  idolatrous 
customs  from  distant  as  well  as  neighbouring 
nations.  In  Chaldcea,  even  the  patriarchs  were 
somewhat  infected  with  this  plague.  To  this  fact 
Joshua  adverts,  when  in  the  commencement  of  his 
well-known  address  to  the  children  of  Israel,  he 
says  :  “  Your  fathers  dwelt  on  the  other  side  of 
the  flood  in  old  time,  even  Zerah,  the  father  of 
Abraham  and  the  father  of  Nahor:  and  they  served 
other  gods .”  (Josh.  xxiv.  2.) 

Eusebius  informs  us,  that  Serug,  the  son  of  Re- 
gu,  first  introduced  it  into  their  families.  (Gen. 
xi.  20.)  At  all  events,  it  is  certain,  that  Jehovah 
commanded  Abraham  to  leave  his  country  and 


IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD.  161 


friends,  because  they  had  been  contaminated  with 
idolatry.  (Compare  Gen.  xii.  1,  and  Josh.  xxiv. 
2.)  From  this  period  until  the  days  of  Jacob,  ido¬ 
latry  was  unknown  in  the  family  of  the  patriarchs. 
But  when  Rachel  had  brought  her  father’s  Tera- 
phim,  or  household  gods  out  of  Syria,  (Gen.  xxxi. 
19,  30-34,)  and  some  of  her  husband’s  family  had 
defiled  themselves  with  the  idols  of  the  Sichemites, 
among  whom  they  had  dwelt,  (Judges,  ix.  46,) 
Jacob  insisted  upon  the  removal  of  this  stumbling- 
block,  and  buried  all  the  images  under  an  oak  at 
Sechem.  (Gen.  xxxv.  1-4.) 

The  slavery  of  the  Israelites  ought  to  have  laid 
them  under  additional  obligations  to  obey  and 
worship  the  true  God,  as  this  was,  no  doubt,  one 
object  of  their  afHiction.  During  the  time  of  their 
bondage,  they  went  after  the  strange  gods  of 
Egypt,  as  we  learn  from  the  admonition  of  Jo¬ 
shua.  “  Now,  therefore,  fear  the  Lord,  and  serve 
him  in  sincerity  and  truth ;  and  put  away  the  gods 
which  your  fathers  served  on  the  other  side  of  the 
flood,  and  in  Egypt,  and  serve  ye  the  Lord.” 
This  is  still  further  confirmed  by  the  prophet  Eze¬ 
kiel,  when  he  says  of  the  children  of  Israel: 

o  2 


162  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD. 

“  They  committed  whoredoms  in  Egypt.”  (Ezek. 
xxiii.  3.)  The  context  showing  that  idolatry  was 
the  sin  designated  by  this  term.  The  nineteenth 
and  twenty-first  verses  of  the  same  chapter  con¬ 
tain  a  repetition  of  the  charge.  With  a  knowledge 
of  this  fact,  it  is  more  easy  to  account  for  the  ido¬ 
latry  of  the  Israelites,  so  shortly  after  their  deli¬ 
verance  from  the  house  of  bondage.  They  re¬ 
lapsed  into  their  old  idolatrous  habits,  so  soon  as 
they  lost  sight  of  Moses.  (Exod.  xxxii.  1-6.)  Je¬ 
hovah,  on  various  occasions,  most  solemnly  de¬ 
nounced,  in  their  hearing,  all  idolatry,  worshipping 
of  graven  images,  and  every  kind  of  heathenish 
superstition.  The  second  commandment  of  the 
Decalogue  was  framed  expressly  as  a  barrier 
against  all  such  transgressions.  And,  in  addition 
to  this,  we  find  the  most  pointed  prohibitions  in  the 
Old  Testament  writings,  e.  g.  “  Take  ye  there¬ 
fore  good  heed  unto  yourselves,  for  ye  saw  no 
manner  of  similitude  on  the  day  that  the  Lord 
spake  unto  you  in  Horeh ,  out  of  the  midst  of  the 
fire ,  lest  ye  corrupt  yourselves,  and  make  you  a 
graven  image,  the  similitude  of  any  figure,  the 
likeness  of  male  or  female,  the  likeness  of  any 


IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD.  163 


beast  that  is  on  the  earth,  the  likeness  of  any 
winged  fowl  that  flieth  in  the  air,  the  likeness  of 
any  thing  that  creepeth  on  the  ground,  the  like¬ 
ness  of  any  fish  that  is  in  the  waters  beneath  the 
earth ;  and  lest  thou  lift  up  thine  eyes  unto  heaven, 
and  when  thou  seest  the  sun,  and  the  moon,  and 
the  stars,  even  ail  the  host  of  heaven,  shouldst  be 
driven  to  worship  them,  and  serve  them  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  hath  divided  unto  all  nations  under 
the  whole  heaven.”  (Deut.  iv.  15-20.)  Notwith¬ 
standing  this  and  similar  warnings,  in  their  wander¬ 
ings  through  the  wilderness,  they  appear  actually  to 
have  carried  about  with  them  the  images  of  Moloch 
and  other  idols,  (Amos,  v.  25, 26,  Acts,  vii.  41 , 43,) 
and  at  their  entrance  into  the  land  of  Canaan,  we 
find  them  joining  themselves  to  Baal-Peor,  the  god 
of  the  Moabites.  (Numb.  xxv.  42,  43).  During  the 
lifetime  of  Joshua,  Israel  preserved  the  worship  of 
Jehovah  pure,  but  after  his  death,  “  arose  another 
generation  which  knew  not  the  Lord  forgetting 
the  solemn  charge,  which  had  been  given  them, 
to  drive  out  every  idolater  from  the  promised  land, 
they  suffered  a  few  tribes  to  remain  among  them, 
and  the  consequence  was,  the  service  of  the  Lord 


164  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  FEOFLE  OF  GOD. 

was  corrupted  by  the  abominations  tolerated  in 
their  midst,  (Jud.  ii.  7-17,  Judg.  iii.  1-7),  and 
by  intermarriages  between  the  Israelites  and  their 
idolatrous  neighbours.  “  They  served  Baalim ,” 
offered  sacrifices  to  the  gods  of  Canaan,  (Ps. 
clxvi.  38,)  worshipped  Baal  and  Ashtaroth,  (or, 
the  groves ,)  (Judges,  ii.  13,  iii.  7),  and  burnt  in¬ 
cense  to  the  gods  of  the  Syrians,  Sidonians,  Mo¬ 
abites,  Ammonites,  (Ps.  cvi.  34-39,)  and  Philis¬ 
tines,  (Judges,  x.  6.)  It  is  true,  there  were  short 
intervals  during  this  long  season  of  apostacy,  in 
which  Israel  seemed  to  relent,  whenever  men  full 
of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost  were  raised  up,  but 
there  seemed  to  be  an  almost  irresistible  propensity 
to  settle  down  on  the  lees  of  idolatry,  so  soon  as 
God  called  his  zealous  servants  to  their  rest.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  lifetime  of  Gideon,  for  example,  the  people 
seemed  to  be  engaged  in  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
and  to  be  doing  whatsoever  their  hand  found  to  do, 
with  their  might,  but  “  as  soon  as  Gideon  was 
dead,  the  children  of  Israel  turned  again,  and  went 
a  whoring  after  Baalim,  and  made  Baal-Berith 
their  god.  And  the  children  of  Israel  remem¬ 
bered  not  the  Lord  their  God,  who  had  delivered 


IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD.  165 


them  out  of  the  hands  of  all  their  enemies  on  every 
side.”  (Judges,  viii.  33,  34.)  In  honour  of  these 
idols  they  built  altars,  and  planted  groves,  in 
which  they  instituted  “  high  places,”  and  prac¬ 
tised  all ‘manner  of  obscene  wickedness  under  the 
cover  of  tents  erected  for  the  purpose.  (2  Kings, 
xxiii.  7.)  When  God  called  Gideon  to  deliver 
Israel  from  the  yoke  of  the  Midianites,  the  first 
blow  that  this  servant  of  the  Lord  struck,  was  at 
the  altar  of  Baal,  and  the  grove  contiguous  to  it. 
(Judges,  vi.  25-32.) 

In  order  to  guard  more  effectually  against  this 
idolatry,  to  which  the  Israelites  were  so  prone, 
the  Lord  commanded  expressly,  “  Thou  shalt  not 
plant  thee  a  grove  of  any  trees  near  unto  the 
altar  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  thou  shalt 
make  thee.”  (Deut.  xvi.  21.)  And  again:  “  Ye 
shall  utterly  destroy  all  the  places  wherein  the 
nations  which  ye  shall  possess,  served  their  gods, 
upon  the  high  mountains,  and  upon  the  hills,  and 
under  every  green  tree.  And  ye  shall  overthrow 
their  altars,  and  break  their  pillars,  and  burn  their 
groves  with  fire;  and  ye  shall  hew  down  the 
graven  images  of  their  gods,  and  destroy  the 


166  IDOLATRY  OF  TIIE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD. 

names  of  them  out  of  that  place.”  (Deut.  xii.  2,  3.) 
The  practice  of  choosing  and  worsh  ipping  house¬ 
hold  gods  was  also  introduced  into  Israel,  as  we 
see  in  the  case  of  Micah  and  the  tribe  of  Dan. 
(Judges,  xvii.  and  xviii.)  Through  the  influence  of 
Samuel,  Saul,  and  David,  idolatry  was  again  abo¬ 
lished  in  Israel,  (1  Sam.  vii.  3,  4),  and  the  land 
seemed  to  breathe  freely,  as  though  a  heavy  load 
had  been  removed  from  its  bosom.  The  people 
of  God  prevailed  against  their  enemies,  and  pros¬ 
pered  at  home  as  well  as  abroad ;  but  upon  the 
death  of  the  man  after  God’s  own  heart,  this  mo¬ 
ral  plague  again  broke  out.  It  was  introduced  by 
Solomon’s  wives,  who  seduced  him  from  the  wor¬ 
ship  of  the  true  God,  and  taught  him  to  burn  in¬ 
cense,  offer  sacrifice,  and  build  temples  to  the  idols 
of  their  different  countries.  It  appeared  as  though 
Satan  had  at  length  succeeded  in  lifting  up  the 
flood-gates  and  removing  the  barriers,  which  had 
hitherto,  in  a  great  measure,  restrained  the  deso¬ 
lating  torrent  that  now  swept  every  thing  before 
it.  “  Then  Solomon  built  a  high  place  for  Che- 
mosh,  or  Chamos,  the  abomination  of  Moab,  in 
the  hill  that  is  before  Jerusalem,  and  for  Moloch, 


IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD.  1G7 


the  abomination  of  the  children  of  Ammon.  And 
likewise  did  he  for  all  his  strange  wives,  which 
burnt  incense  and  sacrificed  unto  their  gods.”  (1 
Kings,  xi.  7,  8.)  After  the  division  of  the  king¬ 
dom,  Jeroboam  instituted  the  worship  of  the 
golden  calves  and  satyrs ,  to  which  allusion  has 
several  times  been  made,  (1  Kings,  xii.  28-33) ; 
2  Chron.  xi.  15).  Ahab  established  the  altars 
of  Baal,  (1  Kings,  xvi.  31-33),  and  from  this  time 
forward,  idolatry  was  practised  by  every  king  of 
Israel,  and  their  example  was  followed  by  the 
people.  The  last  king,  Iloshea,  was  not  quite  so 
wicked  as  his  predecessors.  “  He  did  that  which 
was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  but  not  as  the 
kings  of  Israel  thqt  were  before  him.”  (2  Kings, 
xvii.  2.)  In  proof  of  this,  it  may  be  mentioned, 
that  after  the  two  golden  calves  had  been  carried 
away  by  the  Assyrian  kings,  (Hos.  x.  6),  he  per¬ 
mitted  his  subjects  to  return  to  Jerusalem,  to  wor¬ 
ship  the  true  God,  and  did  not  hinder  them,  when 
after  their  return  from  celebrating  the  passover 
with  Hezekiah  at  Jerusalem,  they  broke  in  pieces 
the  images,  cut  down  the  groves,  removed  the 
high  places,  and  destroyed  every  vestige  of  ido- 


168  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD. 

latry  throughout  the  land  of  Samaria.  (2  Chron. 
xxx.  10-18.)  For  further  details  of  the  idolatry 
of  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  we  refer  the  reader  to 
the  books  of  the  prophets  Hosea  and  Amos,  and 
also  to  the  sixteenth  and  twenty-third  chapters  of 
Ezekiel. 

In  Judah,  the  state  of  religion  was  not  much  bet¬ 
ter  than  in  Israel ;  for  although  they  had  the  tem¬ 
ple  and  the  ordinances  of  the  true  worship  among 
them,  the  Jews  paid  divine  honours  to  a  countless 
multitude  of  false  gods.  This  the  prophet  Jere¬ 
miah  laments :  “  Where  are  thy  gods  that  thou 
hast  made  thee  ?  Let  them  arise,  if  they  can  save 
thee  in  the  time  of  thy  trouble ;  for  according  to 
the  number  of  thy  cities  are  thy  gods,  O  Judah.” 
(Jer.  ii.  28.)  And  again:  “  According  to  the  num¬ 
ber  of  thy  cities  were  thy  gods,  and  according  to 
the  number  of  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  have  ye 
set  up  altars  to  that  shameful  thing,  even  altars  to 
burn  incense  unto  Baal.”  (Jer.  xi.  13.)  They 
became  more  and  more  addicted  to  idolatry,  which 
was  maintained  and  promoted  by  their  wicked 
kings.  It  was  they  who  consecrated  horses  to  the 
sun,  (2  Kings,  xxiii.  11,  12),  and  built  altars  to 


IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD.  169 


the  abominations  of  the  heathen.  High  places, 
pillars,  groves,  &c.,  were  set  up  on  every  spot 
which  appeared  convenient  for  their  idolatrous 
worship.  “  Judah  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord,  and  they  provoked  him  to  jealousy  with 
their  sins  which  they  had  committed,  above  all 
that  their  fathers  had  done.  For  they  also  built 
them  high  places,  and  images,  and  groves,  on 
every  high  hill,  and  under  every  green  tree.  And 
there  were  also  Sodomites  in  the  land;  and  they 
did  according  to  all  the  abominations  of  the  na¬ 
tions  which  the  Lord  cast  out  before  the  children 
of  Israel.”  (1  Kings,  xiv.  22-24.)  Isaiah  upbraids 
them  thus  :  “  Are  ye  not  children  of  transgression 
— a  seed  of  falsehood;  inflaming  yourselves  with 
idols,  under  every  green  tree,  slaying  the  chil¬ 
dren  in  the  valleys,  under  the  clifts  of  the  rocks  1” 
(Isaiah,  lxvii.  4.)  Ezekiel  threatens  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord.  “  Then  shall  ye  know  that  I  am  the 
Lord,  when  their  slain  men  shall  be  among  their 
idols,  round  about  their  altars,  upon  every  high 
hill,  in  all  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  and  under 
every  green  tree,  and  under  every  thick  oak,  the 
place  where  they  did  offer  sweet  savour  to  all 


F 


170  IDOLATRY  OF  TIIE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD. 

their  idols.”  (Ezek.  vi.  13.)  Queen  Maecha 
planted  a  grove  for  Miplezeth ;  Ahaziah  and  his 
mother,  Athahliah,  introduced  the  worship  of  Baal 
into  Jerusalem.  “  He  also  walked  in  the  ways  of 
the  house  of  Ahab,  for  his  mother  was  his  coun¬ 
sellor  to  do  wickedly.  Wherefore  he  did  evil  in 
the  sight  of  the  Lord,  like  the  house  of  Ahab  ;  for 
they  were  his  counsellors,  after  the  death  of  his 
father,  to  his  destruction.”  (2  Chron.  xxii.  3,  4 ; 
2  Chron.  xxiii.  17  ;  Jer.  xix.  5.)  Manasseh  went 
so  far  as  to  set  up  the  image  of  Baal  in  the  temple 
of  the  Lord ;  “  He  set  a  graven  image  of  the 
grove  that  he  had  made  in  the  house,  of  which  the 
Lord  said  to  David,  and  to  Solomon,  his  son,  in 
this  house  and  in  Jerusalem,  which  I  have  chosen 
out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  will  I  put  my  name 
forever.”  (2  Kings,  xxi.  7  ;  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  3.) 
Ezekiel  and  Jeremiah  both  complain  of  this  insult 
offered  to  the  Lord  Jehovah.  (Ezek.  viii.  3  ;  Jer. 
vii.  30.) 

Images  of  reptiles  and  beasts,  such  as  were 
commonly  deposited  in  the  idol-temples  of  the 
Egyptians,  were  also  set  up  in  the  Lord's  house , 
or  their  pictures  drawn  on  its  walls.  “  He  brought 


IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD.  171 


me  to  the  door  of  the  court ;  and  when  I  looked, 
behold  a  hole  in  the  wall.  Then  he  said  unto  me, 
son  of  man,  dig  now  in  the  wall ;  and  when  I  had 
digged  in  the  wall,  behold  a  door.  And  he  said 
unto  me,  go  in,  and  behold  the  wicked  abomina¬ 
tions  that  they  do  here.  So  I  went  in  and  saw ; 
and  behold  every  form  of  creeping  things,  and 
abominable  beasts,  and  all  the  idols  of  the  house 
of  Israel,  portrayed  upon  the  wall  round  about.’* 
(Ezek.  viii.  7-10.) 

They  worshipped  brazen  serpents.  It  is  re¬ 
lated  of  Hezekiah,  (2  Kings,  xviii.  4,)  that  “  he 
removed  the  high  places,  &c.,  and  brake  in  pieces 
the  brazen  serpent  that  Moses  had  made :  for  unto 
those  days  did  the  children  of  Israel  burn  incense 
to  it.”  They  paid  divine  honours  to  the  sun. 
When  the  Lord  was  showing  Ezekiel  the  abomi¬ 
nations  committed  in  his  house,  after  pointing  out 
different  causes  of  offence,  he  says  :  “  Turn  thee 
yet  again,  and  thou  shaft  see  greater  abominations 
than  these.  And  he  brought  me  into  the  inner 
court  of  the  Lord’s  house  ;  and  behold,  at  the  door 
of  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  between  the  porch  and 
the  altar,  were  about  five  and  twenty  men,  with 


172  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD. 

their  backs  toward  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and 
their  faces  toward  the  east ;  and  they  worshipped 
the  sun  toward  the  east.”  (Ezek.  viii.  16.) 

They  consecrated  to  the  snn,  chariots  and 
horses ,  which  were  kept  in  the  temple .  Josiah 
took  away  the  horses,  which  the  kings  of  Judah 
had  given  to  the  sun,  at  the  entering  in  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  by  the  chamber  of  Nathan- 
melech,  the  chamberlain,  which  was  in  the  sub¬ 
urbs,  and  burnt  the  chariots  of  the  sun  with  fire.” 
(2  Kings,  xxiii.  11.) 

They  sacrificed  to  the  moon  as  queen  of  hea¬ 
ven ,  (Jer.  vii.  18,)  and  erected  altars  to  the  stars, 
and  worshipped  them  as  the  host  of  heaven.  (2 
Kings,  xxi.  3-5.) 

False  prophets  and  diviners  were  encouraged , 
(2  Chron.  xxxiii.  6,)  prostitution  of  the  most  hor¬ 
rid  kind  was  maintained,  (1  Kings,  xiv.  24,  2 
Kings,  xxiii.  7,)  and  the  gods  of  all  the  heathen 
nations  with  whom  the  Israelites  became  ac¬ 
quainted,  were  invoked.  They  worshipped  the 
idols  of  Syria,  (2  Chron.  xxviii.  23-25,)  Assyria, 
Egypt,  and  Chaldsea,  (Ezek.  xvi.  26-29,  xxiii. 
11-27,  and  viii.  14.)  Moloch  had  his  altars  in 


IDOLATRY  OP  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD.  173 


the  vale  of  Tophet  and  Ben-Hinnom,  (2  Kings, 
xxiii.  10;  Jer.  vii.  31,  xxxii.  35;  1  Chron.  xxviii. 
3,)  and,  in  short,  both  Israel  and  Judah  served 
Satan  with  their  whole  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind, 
and  strength. 

After  the  Babylonian  captivity,  synagogues 
were  established  among  the  Jews  in  every  city ; 
to  these  they  repaired  on  the  Sabbath  and  also 
during  the  week,  for  worship,  and  to  hear  Moses 
and  the  prophets  read  and  expounded.  These 
institutions  preserved  them  in  the  knowledge  of 
Jehovah  and  his  law,  and  restrained  them  from 
adopting  the  idolatrous  customs  and  superstitions 
of  the  neighbouring  nations.  When  the  Syrian 
king,  Antiochus  the  Great ,  attempted  to  subvert 
the  worship  of  the  living  God,  and  to  force  upon 
the  Jews  the  vile  ceremonies  of  Grecian  idolatry, 
the  Maccabees  resisted  the  encroachments  of  his 
tyranny,  and  expended  treasure  and  blood  in  the 
defence  of  their  rights,  which  they,  at  length, 
with  God’s  help,  successfully  vindicated. 

From  this  time  forward,  the  Jews  were  vigi¬ 
lant  in  detecting  and  avoiding  the  least  approach 
to  idolatry.  Images  and  pictures  were  their  ab- 

p  2 


174  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  GOD. 

horrence — no  sculptors  were  tolerated  among 
them — not  a  statue  was  to  be  seen  in  their  syna¬ 
gogues,  and  might  not  even  so  much  as  be  named 
in  connexion  with  the  temple.  In  short,  every 
thing  of  the  kind  was  banished  from  Jerusalem. 
So  jealous  were  they  of  the  glory  of  God,  that 
they  rebelled  against  their  rulers  whenever  the 
attempt  was  made  to  set  up  images  or  statues 
amongst  them,  and  preferred  death  to  their  tolera¬ 
tion.  Frequent  petitions  were  addressed  to  the 
Roman  government  to  forbid  the  passage  of 
troops  through  their  country,  because  the  Roman 
legions  were  always  furnished  with  standards, 
which  consisted  principally  of  images.  Hence 
it  is  easy  to  understand  why  the  Roman  army, 
at  the  siege  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  is 
termed  “the  abomination  of  desolation.” — 
“When  ye  therefore  shall  see  the  abomination  of 
desolation,  spoken  of  by  Daniel  the  prophet,  stand 
in  the  holy  place,  (whoso  readeth,  let  him  under¬ 
stand,)  then  let  them  which  be  in  Jerusalem,  flee 
into  the  mountains,”  &c.  (Matt.  xxiv.  15,  16.) 
That  this  “abomination  of  desolation”  refers  to 
Roman  armies  is  plain,  by  a  reference  to  the 


IDOLATRY  OF  THE  FEOPLE  OF  GOD.  175 


parallel  passage  in  Luke,  xxi.  20,  where  the  Sa¬ 
viour  says,  “And  when  ye  shall  see  Jerusalem 
compassed  with  armies,  then  know  that  the  deso¬ 
lation  thereof  is  nigh.” 

In  the  New  Testament,  converts  to  Christianity 
from  among  the  heathen  are  warned  to  guard 
against  relapsing  into  their  former  idolatrous 
habits.  When  the  dissension  arose  among  the 
brethren  about  circumcising  the  Gentile  con¬ 
verts,  after  Peter  and  Paul  and  Barnabas  had 
each  given  his  opinion,  the  Apostle  James,  who 
evidently  was  the  president  of  the  convention, 
closes  his  counsel  thus — “WTherefore  my  sen¬ 
tence,  (or  opinion,)  is,  that  we  trouble  not  them, 
which  from  among  the  Gentiles  are  turned  to  God : 
but  that  we  write  to  them,  that  they  abstain  from 
pollutions  of  idols ,  and  from  fornication,  and 
from  things  strangled,  and  from  blood.”  (Acts, 
xv.  20.)  The  Apostle  John  concludes  his  First 
General  Epistle  with  this  affectionate  counsel : 
“  Little  children,  keep  yourselves  from  idols.” 

In  the  writings  of  the  Apostles,  there  are  special 
and  repeated  cautions  against  the  use  of  all  things 
offered  to  idols.  (1  Cor.  viii.  10-13;  x.  19-32.) 


176  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  FEOPLE  OF  GOD. 

It  was  a  common  custom  among  the  heathen, 
for  the  priest  to  sprinkle  the  thing  sacrificed  to 
idols  with  wine,  and  before  the  libation  was 
poured  out,  to  hand  the  cup  around  to  the  by¬ 
standers  for  them  to  taste.  After  the  sacrifice 
had  been  performed  with  the  usual  ceremonies, 
they  who  had  brought  the  offering  usually  made 
a  great  feast  in  the  temple,  when  that  which  re¬ 
mained  of  the  sacrifice  was  eaten  by  the  com¬ 
pany,  who  sang  the  praises  of  their  gods,  and 
danced  and  leaped  about  the  altar,  as  the  priests 
of  Baal  did,  when  Elijah  urged  them  in  mockery 
to  be  more  earnest  in  their  prayers.  To  these 
festivals,  Christians  who  had  heathen  relatives 
and  friends,  were  often  invited,  and  were  pressed 
to  drink  of  their  cup,  and  to  partake  of  the  things 
offered  to  idols.  But,  because  this  was  a  great 
scandal,  and  a  stumbling  block,  which  was  cal¬ 
culated  particularly  to  offend  such  who  were 
weak  in  the  faith,  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  warns  the  disciples  against  all  participation 
in  such  festivals — terming  them  “  the  table  of  de¬ 
vils,”  and  “the  cup  of  devils.” 


CONCLUSION. 


177 


CHAPTER  XX. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  subject  which  has  been  investigated  in  the 
preceding  pages,  is  one  fraught  with  melancholy 
reflections.  It  is  humiliating  even  to  fallen  human 
nature,  to  be  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  the 
practice  of  bowing  to  stocks  and  stones  should 
ever  have  prevailed  to  a  great  extent  in  any  one 
country.  What  must  it  be  then,  when  it  is  re¬ 
membered,  that  without  excepting  even  the  chosen 
people  of  God,  every  nation,  upon  whom  the 
light  of  heaven  has  shone,  has,  at  one  period  or 
other  of  its  history,  been  addicted  to  idolatry? 
Let  it  never  be  forgotten,  that  the  origin  of  all 
this  defection  from  reason  and  holiness,  is  to  be 
traced  to  that  one  transgression  in  Eden,  which 
“  brought  death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  wo.” 

So  long,  indeed,  as  we  continue  in  alienation 
from  God,  we  are  worshipping  idols ,  for  every 


178 


CONCLUSION. 


thing  is  an  idol  that  usurps  that  place  in  our 
affections  which  belongs  to  God,  and  worship  is 
nothing  but  supreme  love. 

It  is  now  considered  altogether  too  revolting  to 
every  dictate  of  reason,  to  adore  the  work  of  our 
own  hands  by  outward  acts  of  worship ;  because 
Bible  light  and  knowledge  have  chased  away  from 
our  land  the  midnight  gloom  in  which  six  hun¬ 
dred  millions  of  our  benighted  fellow  men,  are 
still  groping  their  downward  way,  dishonouring 
God  by  deeds  of  darkness,  and  stumbling  over 
their  idol-altars  into  hell.  “  Thanks  be  to  God 
for  his  unspeakable  gift !”  Thanks  for  every 
drop  of  blood  shed  upon  the  cross,  and  for  the 
knowledge  of  the  Saviour’s  death  and  resurrec¬ 
tion  !  Let  us  not  forget  that  necessity  is  laid  upon 
us  to  extend  this  saving  knowledge  to  those  who 
have  never  heard  of  the  Man  of  Calvary ;  but  let 
each  one,  according  to  the  measure  of  the  grace 
of  Christ  given  to  him,  exert  his  influence  that 
the  Saviour’s  last  command,  “  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,” 
may  come  into  speedy  accomplishment.  If  there 
were  but  one  Prcetorian  cohort  in  the  sacra- 


CONCLUSION. 


179 


mental  host  of  God,  composed  of  spirits  such  as 
Nitsflman  and  Dober  of  the  Moravian  Church, 
who  first  planted  the  ensign  of  dying  love  on  the 
West  India  Islands,  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles 
would,  ere  long,  come  pouring  and  pressing  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  the  Word  of  God, 
which  is  a  lamp  to  our  feet,  would  soon  gleam 
through  the  shades  of  death  as  a  beacon-light  to 
the  millions  who  still  groan  in  spiritual  bondage, 
and  stumble  and  fall  on  the  dark  mountains  of 
sin.  But  before  God’s  sons  can  be  brought  from 
far,  and  his  daughters  from  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
the  Church,  the  Lamb’s  bride,  purchased  with 
his  own  precious  blood,  must  array  herself  in 
the  beauty  of  holiness,  gird  herself  with  Im¬ 
manuel’s  strength,  and  put  away  her  idols  ! 
The  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  ClIURCH  OF  ClIRIST  is  nOW 
the  great  stumbling-block  in  the  highway  of  our 
God.  Oh!  that  the  day  would  dawn  when  Covet¬ 
ousness,  the  Great  Dagon  of  worldly  Christians, 
shall  fall  before  the  Ark  of  God,  never  to  rise 
again  ! 

It  is  true,  we  rejoice  in  the  light  of  revelation, 
and  in  all  the  social,  political,  and  religious  privi- 


180 


CONCLUSION. 


leges,  which  emanate  from  the  Bible,  yet  how 
many,  even  in  the  noon  of  this  gospel-day,  “  fear 
the  Lord,  and  worship  their  graven  images.” 
They  cannot  “  pass  by  a  particle  of  shining 
dust,  without  kneeling  and  cringing  before  it!” 
Gold  is  their  god  !  At  the  altar  of  this  idol, 
they  offer  their  morning  and  evening  sacrifice. 
Many  are  ambitious  of  the  honours  of  this  world, 
careless  and  forgetful  of,  nay  even  despising, 
“  the  honour  that  is  of  God.”  They  too  are  idol¬ 
aters.  Temptations  to  apostacy  from  God  still 
abound,  and  always  will  abound,  so  long  as  the 
world  lieth  in  wickedness,  and  so  long  as  the 
carnal  mind  retains  its  enmity  against  God  ! 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  moral  desola¬ 
tion  which  covered  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  with 
blight,  in  the  season  preceding  the  reformation 
effected  by  Samuel,  Saul,  and  David,  must  be 
ascribed  to  a  neglect  on  the  part  of  Israel  to 
carry  out  the  commands  of  Jehovah.  The  peo¬ 
ple  of  God  had  been  repeatedly  charged  to  drive 
out  all  the  idolatrous  nations  from  Canaan — not 
to  rest  until  they  were  every  one  expelled — but, 
after  the  greater  part  of  this  work  had  been  ac- 


CONCLUSION. 


181 


complished,  and  their  strongest  foes  had  been 
subdued,  their  zeal  relaxed,  and  several  idolatrous 
tribes  were  suffered  to  retain  their  possessions. 
Ere  long  we  find  God’s  people  mingling  with 
them  and  intermarrying,  and  then,  the  next  step 
was  soon  taken,  “  they  forsook  the  Lord,  and 
served  Baal  and  Ashlaroth.”  This  presents  an 
important  caution  to  the  Christian.  Let  him  be¬ 
ware  of  the  idolatrous  Jebusites,  who  still  lurk 
in  the  fastnesses  of  his  heart,  and  see  to  it  that 
he  makes  no  compromise  with  sin .  Down  to  the 
latest  point  of  time,  the  injunction,  “  Watch  and 
pray,”  needs  to  be  sounded  in  his  ears,  and  the 
affectionate  counsel  of  the  beloved  disciple  should 
be  graven  on  the  heart,  and  bound  as  a  frontlet 
between  the  eyes  of  every  follower  of  Jesus — 
“  Little  children,  keep  yourselves  from 
idols.” 


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BL485.B49 

The  Scripture  history  of  idolatry 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


jf  ■  ,  '  '/.A 

7  i  £  t  i 

J  ’  '  j 

1  >  J 

